Taiwan has shuttered offices and schools and grounded flights as the island braces for a powerful typhoon that is expected to make landfall in a few hours after deluging swaths of the Philippines.

Typhoon Gaemi is forecast to hit northeastern Taiwan by 10pm (14:00 GMT) on Wednesday, and President William Lai Ching-te urged everyone to “put safety first” during an emergency briefing.

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The authorities evacuated more than 2,100 people living in precarious conditions in three northern regions, particularly Hualien – a mountainous area with high risk of landslides.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said it had put 29,000 soldiers on standby for disaster relief efforts.

The typhoon also prompted the cancellation of Taiwan’s annual air force drills off its eastern coast and ferry services.

Almost all domestic flights were cancelled as well as more than 200 international flights, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

Gaemi did not make landfall in the Philippines, but enhanced its seasonal monsoon rains and triggered flooding and landslides, killing at least 12 people by Wednesday, according to the national disaster management agency (NDRRMC) and local media reports.

The typhoon packed winds of 160km/h (100mph) on Wednesday and torrential rains lashed the Philippines and much of Taiwan.

At least a dozen landslides and floods over five days have displaced 600,000 people across the country, the Philippine government said.

The bodies of four people dug out from a landslide were recovered on Wednesday in Batangas province just south of the capital, Manila, according to ABS-CBN News. It reported that a child was electrocuted in central Cebu province during heavy rain.

The latest reports raised the toll to 12 from the initial seven fatalities confirmed by the NDRRMC on Tuesday, mainly on the southern island of Mindanao.

Rescuers assist residents along a flooded street amid heavy rains brought by Typhoon Gaemi, in Manila, July 24 [Lisa Marie David/Reuters]

Swimming to safety

In the densely populated region around the Philippine capital, government work and school classes were suspended after non-stop rains flooded many areas overnight, trapping cars in rising floodwater and stranding people in their homes.

Reporting from Manila, Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Lo said the last 12 hours were particularly intense, with the heavy downpour forcing many residents to flee.

“People said that they had to swim because search and rescue teams are stretched too thin. And it is prevalent all over the Philippine capital,” Lo said.

Marikina River, a major waterway in Manila, was also threatening to overflow, which could be a risk for at least half a million people in the nearby low-lying areas, according to the district’s information office.

Meanwhile, La Mesa Dam, one of the main sources of drinking water for the capital, is close to breaching the danger level, according to the Philippine meteorological agency, PAGASA.

“I have instructed all concerned agencies to provide swift assistance to all those affected by Typhoon Carina and the enhanced southwest monsoon,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said in a statement on the X, referring to Gaemi by its name in the Philippines.

The Philippine Coast Guard said that more than 350 passengers and cargo truck drivers and workers were stranded in seaports after ferries and cargo ships were prohibited from venturing into rough seas.

It said that coastguard personnel helped more than 200 residents evacuate a coastal village in Batangas province, south of Manila, where storm-tossed waves have hit coastal houses.

The effects of the storm were expected to continue into Friday as it moved in a northwestern direction towards mainland China.

Fujian province in southeastern China announced the suspension of all passenger train services on Thursday, state media reported.

Typhoon Gaemi is expected to make landfall in northeastern Taiwan by late Wednesday [Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters]