Typhoon Kaemi was expected to make landfall in eastern Taiwan early this morning, pounding the east coast, Penghu and Kinmen counties and regions south of Hsinchu County with heavy winds and rains.
As of 9:15pm yesterday, the center of the fifth typhoon of the year was located 90km southeast of Taitung County. It was moving northwest at 16kph, with the radius of the storm reaching 200km, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).
Heavy rains are likely in Taitung and Hualien counties and the mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan, the CWB said.
Rain and winds in the western part of the country are not expected to turn stronger until this morning, as the region is shielded by the central mountains.
CWB spokesman Lu Kuo-cheng (
The bureau alerted people to the danger of landslides, falling rocks, and swelling streams and rivers in the mountains caused by torrential rain.
A tour bus was hit by a falling rock in Taroko National Park yesterday, injuring five.
Tourists were evacuated yesterday from Green Island and Orchid Island.
Residents in Taitung were dismissed from work and classes as of 4pm yesterday, and Orchid Islanders also left work and classes yesterday afternoon.
But Keelung residents must attend school or work today, the Keelung City Government announced yesterday.
The weather bureau also warned people in low-lying areas of possible flooding caused by riptides.
Anyone who swims in the sea or gets too close to the waves during the typhoon will be fined up to NT$250,000 according to the Disaster Prevention and Rescue Law (
Domestic flights to and from Hualien and Taitung were canceled as of 3pm yesterday.
Far Eastern Air Transport also canceled its flights after 6pm yesterday between Taipei and Tainan, and between Taipei and Kaohsiung, while Mandarin Airlines canceled all flights after 3pm. Today's domestic flights on Uni Air have also been canceled.
Trains to Alishan have been canceled until the typhoon has passed, according to the Council of Agriculture (COA).
The Taiwan Railway Administration announced last night that express trains operating on the North Link, South Link and the Hualian-Taitung line would be canceled today.
Ships commuting between Penghu and Chiayi counties have been canceled for three days, starting yesterday.
Tourist ferries in Kaohsiung City have been canceled until the city lifts its typhoon alert.
Vegetable supplies are normal, with the average price of each transaction being NT$37.7, the COA said in its press release yesterday.
Parking along yellow and red lines in Taipei City will not be allowed during this storm, the city's Department of Transportation announced yesterday.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats
RSS