Yilan - Taiwan closed schools and evacuated thousands from their homes on Wednesday ahead of Typhoon Gaemi, which authorities said could be “the strongest” to hit in eight years and has already killed two people on the island. The typhoon also exacerbated seasonal rains in nearby Philippines, triggering flooding and landslides that killed six. Gaemi, with sustained wind speeds of 190 kilometres (118 miles) per hour, was forecast to hit northeast Taiwan late Wednesday. However a forecaster with Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said the typhoon was “spinning at a slower speed so the precise time is difficult to determine”. “Gaemi is expected to be the strongest typhoon in eight years to make landfall in Taiwan since Typhoon Nepartak,” forecaster Huang En-hong told AFP, referring to a 2016 superstorm that killed three and injured hundreds.