The Central Weather Bureau issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kujira yesterday morning and a land warning for southern and central Taiwan at 8:30pm last night as the bureau was closely monitoring the typhoon that could hit Taiwan this week.
Kujira, expected to be the first typhoon to hit the island in April in 25 years, raised concerns among the public yesterday that torrential rains to be triggered by the typhoon could cause problems over the next few days.
"Residents in northern and eastern Taiwan should be alert to the possibility of torrential rains brought by the approaching typhoon," said Lin Ding-yi (
Lin said the exact time that Typhoon Kujira will reach the island was hard to predict because the typhoon continued to decrease its speed from a 13km per hour as of 8am to 10km yesterday afternoon.
"Further decrease is possible," the meteorologist said.
The CWB delayed issuing a land warning for Kujira yesterday afternoon due to the the typhoon's slow progress.
As of 7pm yesterday, Kujira, expected to be the third "April typhoon" to hit Taiwan since 1958, was located 480km southeast of Taiwan, moving in a northwesterly direction toward the island at a speed of 10km per hour with a radius of 250km and maximum sustained winds of 155kph with gusts of up to 180kph.
Meteorologists have predicted that Kujira will bring abundant rainfall to the mountain regions of the north and the whole eastern part of Taiwan.
Torrential rains in these areas will increase as the typhoon approaches the island, Lin said. Residents of these areas should be cautious for possible mudflows and landslides following the rains, he said.
The bureau also suggested that the crews of boats plying the waters off these areas should be aware of the possibility of strong winds brought by Kujira.
The National Fire Administration under the Ministry of the Interior set up a contingency disaster prevention and relief center to prepare for dealing with typhoon-related problems yesterday morning.
The Taiwan Power Company, the nation's main power supplier, gave a reminder to metropolitan residents yesterday afternoon for preparatory protection of their power distribution unit usually placed in the basement of buildings in case the typhoon causes a flood in metropolitan areas and damages the distribution unit.
The meteorologists said the most ideal scenario would be that the typhoon decreased in intensity while bringing enough rainfall to raise the levels of the nation's reservoirs.
Kujira, which formed near Guam two weeks ago, had been listed as a strong typhoon before its strength decreased on its way toward the Philippines.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS