Typhoon Mindulle is expected to cause serious damage to southern Taiwan today and residents should avoid carrying out activities in coastal areas in the southern, southeastern and southwestern parts of the island, according to the Central Weather Bureau yesterday.
All city and county governments announced last night, however, that offices and schools would remain open today.
Nevertheless, late last night the typhoon appeared to have changed course and was likely to head north, directly up the island, perhaps the most dangerous path that it could take.
PHOTO: CHIANG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Yesterday morning, the bureau issued a land warning for areas including the Hengchun Peninsula, Taitung, Green Island and Orchid Island. In addition, vessels operating in the Bashi Channel, the waters off southeast Taiwan, or in the southern part of the Taiwan Strait should be on high alert against the typhoon, weather forecasters said.
According to the bureau, with a radius of 250km and packing maximum sustained winds of up to 180kph, Mindulle made landfall on Hengchun Peninsula last night and would further bring heavy rains to southern and eastern Taiwan today.
Yesterday morning, more than 20 fishing boats carrying more than 1,000 foreign fishermen were allowed to enter port in Tungkang, Pingtung County, to take shelter from the storm.
Since Kaohsiung was also listed as one of the seriously affected areas as a result of Typhoon Mindulle, Kaohsiung City Government yesterday set up a special task force to tackle possible emergencies.
Residents were reminded of the danger of entering certain coastal areas, including Shitzuwan (西子灣) beach, Chichin and some fishing ports. Those who unwisely insist on carrying out activities near the beach and have to be rescued by the city's task force will be requested to reimburse the government, in addition to being fined up to NT$250,000, officials said yesterday.
Mayor Frank Hsieh (
Due to strong winds and high waves outside Kaohsiung Harbor, the ferry services between Kaohsiung and offshore Penghu County were canceled.
The Soil and Water Conservation Bureau under the Council of Agriculture yesterday also established a special task force to monitor rainfall at potentially dangerous sites in mountainous areas and deal with possible emergencies involving landslides and mudflows.
Wu said that people living at such sites should pay serious attention to rainfall readings.
"Once the danger level is reached, evacuation under local government instructions will be the safest choice," the bureau's director-general Wu Huei-long (
Meanwhile, Water Resources Agency (WRA) Deputy Director Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) yesterday ordered all river administrators be on the alert.
Earlier this year, it was discovered that 95 steel water gates around the nation had been stolen. By yesterday, only four water gates were not in place. However, WRA officials said the situation should cause no immediate danger.
"We've made 49 mobile pumpers available in order to mitigate the danger of possible flooding," Chen said.
Chen said abundant rainfall might ease the impending drought in the south.
Memories of the floods that inundated half of Taipei City during the passage of Typhoon Nari in September, 2001, spurred the Taipei City Government to be on the alert. To determine whether flood prevention measures have been implemented, Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"The city government will announce potential danger areas vulnerable to floods once the Central Weather Bureau lists Taipei as a seriously affected place," Ma said.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TRAINING: The ministry said 87.5 percent of the apprehended Chinese agents were reported by service members they tried to lure into becoming spies Taiwanese organized crime, illegal money lenders, temples and civic groups are complicit in Beijing’s infiltration of the armed forces, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said in a report yesterday. Retired service members who had been turned to Beijing’s cause mainly relied on those channels to infiltrate the Taiwanese military, according to the report to be submitted to lawmakers ahead of tomorrow’s hearing on Chinese espionage in the military. Chinese intelligence typically used blackmail, Internet-based communications, bribery or debts to loan sharks to leverage active service personnel to do its bidding, it said. China’s main goals are to collect intelligence, and develop a
RSS