The system initially moved northeastward, before taking a westward track, developing into a tropical storm on August 3, with the JMA giving it the name Morakot.

Afterward, Morakot's forward motion slowed and the system gradually weakened, making landfall on central Taiwan later that day as a severe tropical storm.

In the wake of the storm, Taiwan's government faced extreme criticism for the slow response to the disaster and for initially deploying only roughly 2,100 soldiers to the affected regions.

Rescue crews were able to retrieve thousands of trapped residents from buried villages and isolated towns across the island.

The storm also caused severe flooding in the northern Philippines that killed 26 people due to the enhancement of the southwest monsoon.

Early on August 2, 2009, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported that a tropical depression had formed within a monsoon trough located about 1,000 km (620 mi) east of Luzon,[2][3] However the depression remained weak and was downgraded to an area of low pressure, before regenerating later that day.

[4][5][6] Both the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) then started to monitor the depression early the next day, while it was located about 700 km (430 mi) to the southeast of Okinawa, Japan, with the PAGASA assigning the name Kiko to the depression.

On the morning of August 4, the JTWC reported that the Morakot had steadily intensified into a tropical storm, as 1-minute sustained wind speeds were estimated to be near 65 km/h (40 mph), with deep convective banding building toward the low-level circulation center, under the influence of a subtropical ridge located to the east of the system.

However, due to the size of the typhoon, while the barometric pressure steadily decreased, the maximum winds only increased slightly.

Early on August 7, the storm attained its peak intensity, with a central minimum pressure of 945 millibars (27.9 inHg) and maximum 10-minute sustained winds of 140 km/h (85 mph), according to the JMA.

[14] More than 953,000 residents and more than 35,000 boats were evacuated back to shore in the eastern and southeastern provinces of the People's Republic of China.

[18] On Thursday August 6, shortly after midday, Morakot lashed Okinawa-Honto with wind gusts as high as 65 mph (105 km/h),[19] stranding thousands of summer holiday air travelers.

Domestic and international airlines reported 252 flights canceled, stranding 41,648 passengers at the peak of the summer Obon holidays.

[19] The southernmost island groups of Yaeyama, including Yonaguni and Ishigaki, were affected by gale- or storm-force winds.

[29] A rescue helicopter, working to retrieve survivors of the mudflow crashed into a mountain side early on August 11, killing the three occupants.

[30] A swollen river in Taitung County undermined 51 homes and swept them away into the Pacific, leaving numerous residents homeless.

Several stores in front of the hotel were washed away days earlier as the river continued to overflow its banks and inundate nearby towns and cities.

[46] Typhoon Morakot caused Zengwen Reservoir, which was originally short on water, to suddenly exceed capacity.

[54] A building in Longhua Elementary School tilted 30 degrees as a result of the foundations being washed away and was on the verge of falling into the river.

[17] In Wenzhou, a large landslide destroyed six apartment buildings, burying an unknown number of people, some of whom were feared dead.

[71] In Xiapu county, the location of Morakot's landfall in China, 136,000 people reported damage to their homes from flooding or landslides.

After the typhoon, search-and-rescue teams were eventually deployed throughout Taiwan in response to numerous landslides and flash flooding.

Additionally, a fundraising festival named "Spread the Love" was held, featuring prominent TV personalities Matilda Tao, Chang Hsiao-yen, and Shen Chun-hua.

Many large corporations also donated money to the cause, including Chi Mei, Evergreen, Delta Electronics, Foxconn, Formosa Plastics, TSMC, Cathay United Bank, and Asus.

Helicopters were sent to numerous mountain villages, including Siaolin, in an attempt to rescue locals who were unable to escape by foot.

[citation needed] It was discovered that almost 400 people had vanished, and are presumed to have been buried alive when a massive mudflow wiped out 90 per cent of the village's homes.

[citation needed] The record-breaking rains also caused catastrophic agricultural losses, with estimates reaching NT$14.59 billion (US$443 million).

[96] Taiwanese aborigines protested against the 14th Dalai Lama during his visit to Taiwan after Typhoon Morakot and denounced it as politically motivated.

[101]: 123 The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits donated a total of $450 million Renminbi ($2 billion RMB) to rebuild.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council declared a state of calamity for the Zambales region, as over 13,000 people were left homeless.