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.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS