By Fabian Hamacher and Carlos Garcia
TAITUNG,&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;(Reuters) -Typhoon&nbsp;Koinu&nbsp;headed&nbsp;towards&nbsp;southern&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;on Wednesday bringing heavy rain and winds and causing the cancellation of more than 100&nbsp;flights&nbsp;as well as the suspension of&nbsp;work&nbsp;and schools.
Koinu&nbsp;is expected to make landfall on&nbsp;Taiwan's southeastern coast near the city of Taitung on Thursday morning as a category three&nbsp;typhoon, but then weaken as it crosses the island's southern tip and enters the&nbsp;Taiwan&nbsp;Strait, according to Tropical Storm Risk.
The heaviest rain will fall along mountainous and sparsely populated parts of Pingtung county in the south and the east coast counties of Taitung and Hualien, but the&nbsp;typhoon&nbsp;will also affect the major southern port city of Kaohsiung.
In Taitung, fishermen secured their boats in port, as waves gradually became more intense along&nbsp;Taiwan's east coast.
"We are worried that the rain and wind will be very strong when the&nbsp;typhoon&nbsp;makes landfall, so from our end we will strengthen&nbsp;typhoon&nbsp;prevention, and we hope local residents stay alert and be careful," said Chen Chia-chen from&nbsp;Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council, speaking in Taitung.
Kaohsiung and its neighbouring city of Tainan said they would suspend&nbsp;work&nbsp;and classes from 6 pm (1000GMT) on Wednesday and all day on Thursday.
Taiwan's capital Taipei was lashed by squally rain showers, but was not expected to be badly affected. Offices and schools remained open as normal.
Taiwanese airlines&nbsp;cancelled&nbsp;87 domestic&nbsp;flights, while 25 international ones were also&nbsp;cancelled, the transport ministry said.
After passing through&nbsp;Taiwan, the&nbsp;typhoon&nbsp;will head&nbsp;towards&nbsp;southern China's Guangdong and Fujian provinces and then Hong Kong, where it is likely to weaken further to become a tropical storm.
Hong Kong's Weather Observatory said&nbsp;Koinu&nbsp;will enter within 800 km (500 miles) of the financial hub on Wednesday afternoon. The observatory will issue the lowest&nbsp;typhoon&nbsp;signal, 1, on Wednesday night.
(Reporting by Fabian Hamacher and Carlos Garcia; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Edwina Gibbs)

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Flights cancelled, work suspended as typhoon Koinu grinds towards Taiwan