Weather

Flights Canceled Across East Asia as Typhoon Champi Nears Taiwan

Are monster waves and supercharged typhoons the price of a warming ocean or just El Niño's ancient rhythm at work?

2 hours ago·Updated 1 hour ago

Flights Canceled Across East Asia as Typhoon Champi Nears Taiwan

Story

Above: Waves crash against concrete wave breakers along the coast in Keelung as Typhoon Champi approaches Taiwan on Oct. 23. Image credit: I-Hwa Cheng/AFP/Getty Images

The Facts

Typhoon Champi, the strongest storm worldwide this year, neared Taiwan on Friday, where one person was killed after being swept away by waves and dozens were injured. More than 1,200 people had been evacuated ahead of it.
Japan Today
South China Morning Post
The New York Times
Work and classes were suspended Friday across nearly all of Taiwan's 22 counties and cities, including the outlying Penghu and Matsu islands. Taiwan's stock exchange was also closed for the day.
Focus Taiwan
BBC News
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport canceled 414 of the 793 flights scheduled for Friday, or 52%, including 353 passenger and 61 cargo services. The transport ministry reported 125 cancellations on Thursday, mostly on domestic routes.
Taiwan News
Reuters
Accuweather
Four Japanese airlines canceled more than 160 flights as Champi neared the country's southwestern islands, while All Nippon Airways halted all Miyako and Ishigaki services. Okinawa Electric Power reported 3,630 households without power.
Firstpost
BBC News
China's meteorological agency issued a blue alert, its lowest level, warning of 50 to 80 millimeters of rain along the eastern coast, including Shanghai, while Zhejiang Province issued an orange alert for large waves as Champi tracked north.
Firstpost
South China Morning Post
The Associated Press on Youtube
Taiwan's National Fire Agency asked Hualien County to evacuate residents living downstream of the Wanli Creek landslide dam, which held 5 million tonnes of water as of Thursday. President Lai Ching-te urged the public to avoid mountains and the coast.
Taipei Times
Reuters

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The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

Monster waves and supercharged typhoons are the bill coming due for pumping heat into the oceans. A warmer world loads the dice toward stronger, wetter, faster-intensifying storms that stall over coastlines, while higher seas give every surge a head start. Shrugging at that shift leaves coastal communities unprepared for storms far nastier than anything in the record books.

Peter Dynes on X

NewsForce on X

Climate-skeptic narrative

El Niño has been swinging Pacific weather for thousands of years, and this cycle sits comfortably inside the normal range. Calling a well-understood natural rhythm an unprecedented emergency ignores a century of nearly identical events. Models can flag warm Pacific water months out, but local rainfall remains unknowable, so honest judgment belongs in the aftermath, not in the hype.

Peter Clack on X