Taiwan issues land warning ahead of Typhoon Krathon

Taipei: Taiwan issued a land warning on Monday ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Krathon which is expected, unusually, to make landfall on the island's western coast bringing torrential rain.

Taiwan regularly gets hit by typhoons, but they generally land along the mountainous and sparsely populated eastern coast facing the Pacific, rather than its densely packed west.

Krathon, categorised as a medium strength typhoon, is forecast to hit the major port city of Kaohsiung early on Wednesday, then work its way across the bottom tip of Taiwan and cross back out into the Pacific, the Central Weather Administration said.

Boats to Taiwan's outlying islands have already been cancelled, with some domestic flight disruption as well.

In July, Typhoon Gaemi killed at least 11 people in Taiwan.