TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Fears increased Friday (Aug. 4) that an empty hotel in central Taiwan might topple amid heavy rain, while mountainous areas in the region announced closures of schools and offices for Saturday (Aug. 5).

Typhoon Khanun moved away in the direction of Japan, with the Central Weather Bureau lifting land and sea warnings Friday morning. However, heavy rain continued to fall in several parts of Taiwan, including the central mountainous areas often plagued by landslides and rockfalls.

In Nantou County’s Renai Township, the Lilai Hot Spring Hotel in the Lushan hot springs area threatened to topple or collapse as the soil underneath was being washed away, CNA reported. However, the county government emphasized that the hotel had been closed for a while, so there were no guests inside, and no staff was working there anymore.

Lushan counted 10 hotels that had been operating illegally, including the Lilai. The county authorities were persuading the operators to leave and to set up legally registered hotels in the Fuxing Hot Springs area. The move out of Lushan started after heavy damage inflicted by Typhoon Sinlaku in 2008 and Typhoon Morakot in 2009.

At present, other hotels in Lushan were dealing with flooded lobbies and carparks, but most guests were evacuated on Thursday (Aug. 3), according to local police. Mudslides were making traffic on roads in the area difficult.

According to the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration, Renai was shutting down its offices and schools Saturday. The Kaohsiung City districts of Jiaxian, Liugui, Taoyuan, Maolin, and Namaxia were continuing the closures that had started Friday for a second consecutive day.