Although the approaching winter typhoon Nanmadol is weakening into a milder storm, the Central Weather Bureau still issued a land warning yesterday afternoon and urged people to brace for sudden downpours and lashing winds in northern and eastern parts of the country.
"The typhoon itself may slacken, yet what we really worry about is the heavy rain it incurs. With the cool monsoons blowing form the northeast and the tropical storm pressing from the south, Taiwan will be drenched in torrential rains over the weekend," said Daniel Wu (
PHOTO: YANG YI-MIN, TAIPEI TIMES
Eastern Taiwan and Hengchun Peninsula bore the brunt of the storm, with rainfall expected to hit 350mm in Ilan and Hualien's mountains in 24 hours. Northern and southern parts will also see rainfall of 200mm as the typhoon nears. Wu cautioned that residents in mountainous areas should be wary of possible landslides and mudflows.
As of 5pm yesterday, Puluowan in Hualien had seen 461mm rainfall and Taiping Mountain in Ilan also received 240mm of rain.
Nanmadol, the 27th typhoon reported in the Pacific this year, would be the first-ever to batter the country in December in recorded history, should make landfall today.
The latest storm, which sliced through the northern Philippines Friday, is lurching toward Taiwan with sustained winds of up to 176kph and gusts of up to 224kph. By 6pm yesterday, the storm's center was about 360km southwest of Oluanpi, Taiwan's southernmost tip, and is plowing northeast at a speed ranging from 19kph to 30kph, the bureau said.
The bureau forecast that the typhoon's influence would peak today. After it passes the country yesterday, temperatures in some areas could drop to as low as 12?C, the bureau said.
Meanwhile, due to heavy rains and strong winds, all flights to and from Hengchun Airport in southern Taiwan were canceled yesterday. The Taitung Airport also had many flights delayed. Civil aviation authorities there have given no timetable on when flights will resume.
The Taitung County Government also closed schools and public offices on the outlying island of Lanyu yesterday.
To slow rising water levels, both the Shihmen Reservoir (
The Yuanshantsi Water Diversion Tunnel was also activated yesterday to channel water from the Keelung River.
The Council of Agriculture (COA) said that 2,400 tonnes vegetables have been in cold storage to meet the demand.
"Vegetables are plentiful in wintertime. People do not need to rush to the market to buy fresh vegetables nor will vegetable prices soar," said a COA technician Chao Yang-tung (
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS