Typhoon Krathon slammed into Taiwan on Thursday, bringing mudslides, flooding and destructive winds to the shuttered island where at least two people have died in the storm and thousands have been evacuated.
In southern Pingtung, the typhoon was hampering rescue efforts after a fire tore through a hospital, killing nine people.
Schools, offices and businesses across Taiwan were all shut for a second consecutive day as the wind toppled trees, knocked over motorcyclists and blew cargo containers from a pier.
"It feels like the end of the world. I haven't seen such a severe typhoon in decades. It's so big and scary," Liu Chih-hsiang, 60, the owner of a moving company in the port city of Kaohsiung, told AFP.
"Our neighbor's metal roof has been blown off," he said.
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