In Taiwan, typhoons are not just tropical storms that cause flooding and damage. They can make or break a mayor’s chance at re-election for reasons one might not expect.
Several times a year between summer and fall, when the subtropical island is hit by cyclones, city and county mayors must decide whether to order a “typhoon day off,” when government offices, schools and most businesses will close.
Taiwan has been bracing for Typhoon Champi, which was at one point a super typhoon and the strongest storm of 2026. On Thursday, the mayor of Taipei, Chiang Wan-an, called a typhoon day off for Friday, and urged residents to be careful. The storm is expected to pass the northeastern part of Taiwan, bringing heavy rain and winds of 141 miles per hour.
The decision did not come as a surprise to many, not least because of the weather forecast. Mr. Chiang faces re-election in late November, and typhoon days are popular with residents, who often spend the day at home. If the storm turns out to be weaker than forecast, many go shopping, to the movies or to sing karaoke. (Mr. Chiang, a member of the Nationalist Party, also called the Kuomintang, is in a close race with Puma Shen, a popular legislator from the governing Democratic Progressive Party.)
Almost all cities and counties across Taiwan’s main island had suspended work and class on Friday.
Because typhoons are such a common part of daily life in Taiwan, decisions like whether or not to call a typhoon day matter to voters. Between 2001 and 2023, Taipei had 40 typhoon days off, an average of almost two days a year, according to The News Lens, a local publication. Other cities like Yilan on the northeastern coast, which is often hit badly by storms, had 45 days off in that period.
According to Austin Wang, an associate professor at the University of Nevada who has studied the electoral politics of typhoon days, the likelihood that a mayor announces closure of work and school increases 31 percent during an election year.
Unlike other policies that can take months or years to evaluate, he said, it is clear within a day or two whether an official made the correct call. For instance, if a typhoon day is called and the storm turns out to be severe, the official made the right decision. The fact that the mayor’s office alone determines whether to call a day off also means that the decision is entirely the mayor’s responsibility.
“It is a very easy criteria for people to evaluate whether their incumbent was doing a good job or a bad job,” Mr. Wang said. When it comes to re-election, he said, “people will remember if the mayor made the right or wrong decision.”
Tickets for many high-speed trains leaving Taipei during working hours on Friday were fully or almost fully booked on Thursday. Supermarkets stocked extra supplies of water, produce and instant noodles, a common staple during typhoons.
On social media, residents discussed their plans to spend the four-day weekend binge watching television shows and sleeping. (Monday is a public holiday in Taiwan.) Earlier in the day, residents left comments on Mr. Chiang’s Facebook page, asking him to announce a day off.
Despite the popularity of such days, unnecessarily calling one can come back to haunt a candidate. Business groups often oppose typhoon days off because of the cost to companies, most of which still pay their employees for the day. Taiwan’s stock market also closes for the day if work and school are suspended in Taipei.
In July, when Typhoon Bavi approached Taiwan, Mr. Chiang ordered a day off on a Friday for residents to prepare for the storm’s arrival on the weekend. Commentators and his political rivals accused him of inventing the concept of a “typhoon preparation day” just to pander to voters.
But not calling one quickly enough may be even worse. When Typhoon Mikra passed over central Taiwan in June, the mayors of the city of Hsinchu and the county of Hsinchu, home to Taiwan’s largest semiconductor companies, were criticized for not issuing a typhoon day off. The next day, as the storm arrived, the county mayor, Yang Wenke, issued an apology and announced the suspension of work and school. That storm left two people dead.
Lai Ching-te, the president of Taiwan, has been both praised and derided for his weather-related decisions. In 2012, when Typhoon Tembin approached the southern city of Tainan, Mr. Lai, then that city’s mayor, decided it would be business as usual.
When the storm proved to be light, he earned the nickname “God Lai.”
But the next year, when once again he resisted pressure to declare a day off during another typhoon, the storm caused severe flooding in his city. He issued a public apology.
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