Typhoon "Kraton" struck the southern coast of the island of Taiwan on October 3, 2024. It brought winds of up to seventy-eight miles per hour and heavy rainfall, flooding mountainous areas and cities.
The hardest hit was the port city of Kaohsiung. Winds tore roofs off buildings and destroyed port infrastructure, while over two thousand trees were knocked down throughout the city. Many roads were blocked by fallen trees and debris, complicating rescue operations.
Areas housing container terminals suffered particularly. Powerful gusts scattered containers across the port area, blocking docks. Residents also faced shortages of drinking water and electricity: nearly one hundred thousand homes were left without power, and one hundred twenty-nine thousand were without water.
Residents of Pingtung County, which also experienced significant damage from the typhoon, are still grappling with its aftermath.
"Kraton" moved very slowly, at only two and a half miles per hour, which led to an immense amount of rainfall in the affected areas. In some places, up to sixty-six inches of rain fell within a few days. This was one of the causes of numerous landslides.
A state of emergency was declared in Taiwan. More than forty thousand military personnel were mobilized to assist with rescue efforts. Schools, offices, and transportation were suspended as authorities worked to manage the aftermath of the disaster. The typhoon significantly impacted air travel, with fifteen international and eighty-eight domestic flights canceled.
As a result of the disaster, two people lost their lives, six hundred sixty-seven were injured, and one went missing. Authorities evacuated over ten thousand people from dangerous areas, particularly from mountainous and coastal regions most susceptible to landslides.
Experts noted that such a volume of rainfall in such a short period is rare even for Taiwan, making "Kraton" so devastating.
Even more unusual was that the typhoon hit the western coast of the island, which rarely suffers from such storms. Typically, typhoons come from the east, where mountains reduce their strength; the absence of such protection in the west made its impact catastrophic. Kraton became the first typhoon to hit Kaohsiung in forty-seven years.
It is impossible not to notice that almost every climatic event happening on the planet is characterized as anomalous, unusual, or record-breaking. The consequences for people are clear: immense destruction and human casualties.
It is evident that these negative processes are intensifying. We are on the brink of chaos, beyond which it will be impossible to change anything.
Today, we still have the opportunity to stop this. But action must be taken urgently, and every person on the planet must take action. More information about what else can be done now is available at the "Global Crisis" online forums.