[Source: Reuters]

A weakened and “weird” Typhoon Krathon slammed into southwestern Taiwan on Thursday, hitting the island with a storm that has killed two people so far and forced it to shut down a second day with hundreds of flights grounded and financial markets closed.

Krathon made landfall as a much weaker category 1 typhoon around midday at major port city Kaohsiung. The government, though, still warned people to stay at home given torrential rain, strong winds and storm surges coinciding with high tide.

Shortly after dawn, residents in Kaohsiung, a city of some 2.7 million people, began receiving texted warnings telling them to seek shelter from gusts of more than 160 kph (100 mph).

Kaohsiung’s port recorded gusts of more than 220 kph.

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai told reporters there were still too many people on the streets.

“Looking at surveillance cameras we can see there are a lot of people out riding scooters under such strong wind and rain, which is really very dangerous,” he said.

“If you don’t have to, please avoid going out.”

Taipei university student Liao Shian-rong, 24, came to Kaohsiung with some classmates to chase the storm, bringing equipment like barometers and saying it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“We are being hit by the eyewall now and will enter the eye soon,” he said, filming the storm from a hotel lobby.