Taiwan cancels flights, shuts schools ahead of typhoon

Taiwan cancelled flights and closed schools in parts of its southern region on Wednesday ahead of typhoon "Koinu's" expected landfall, the second major storm to make a direct hit on the island in a month.

Ahead of Thursday's expected typhoon, more than 100 international and domestic flights have been cancelled, while ferry services to Taiwan's outlying islands have also been halted.

More than 200 people were evacuated for fear of landslides in the south of the island, and waves lashing the coast could reach up to seven meters (22 feet) high, authorities said.

Fishing boats were crammed into a fishing harbor in Pingtung county on Wednesday to shelter ahead of the typhoon, while primary schools in the agricultural region of Taitung allowed children to go home early.

A major highway along the coast has also been closed as a precaution.

"Koinu" — which has been charting a jagged course for Taiwan's southern tip — is currently just 200 kilometers east of the island, moving towards it at 10 kilometers per hour.

The typhoon has already brought heavy rains to the mountainous northeast regions of Yilan and New Taipei City.

"We forecast that its center will pass through the Hengchun Peninsula at the southern tip of Taiwan tomorrow morning," Lu Kuo-chen, head of Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, said.

After making landfall in Taiwan, typhoon "Koinu" is forecast to move towards the eastern coast of China's Guangdong province, said the weather observatory in nearby Hong Kong.

The Chinese territory — which last month was skirted by another typhoon before being flooded by the heaviest rainfall in 140 years days later

— will issue its lowest typhoon signal on Wednesday evening.