Typhoon Sinlaku lashed Taiwan yesterday with powerful winds and heavy rains, disrupting flights and train services and cutting electricity supply to almost 50,000 households.
The Central Weather Bureau said that although the storm’s eyewall — the ring of towering thunderstorms surrounding the eye where the most severe weather occurs — could be damaged after hitting land, Sinlaku would maintain its structure and remain a serious threat.
The slow-moving typhoon, with a 250km radius, is not expected to completely leave Taiwan until Tuesday and will have the greatest impact sometime before this afternoon, said Fred Tsai (蔡甫甸), a senior forecaster at the bureau.
SOURCE: CENTRAL WEATHER BUREAU
During that period, rainfall in the northern, northeastern, eastern, central and southern parts of Taiwan could reach the “extremely heavy rain” or “torrential rain” categories, defined respectively as rainfall exceeding 130mm and 200mm over a 24-hour period, he said.
The mountainous areas in these regions could even see “extremely torrential rain,” which refers to rainfall exceeding 350mm in 24 hours, Tsai said, warning people across the country — particularly those in coastal and mountainous regions — to take precautions against flooding and mudslides.
The bureau said that from Friday until 4pm yesterday, accumulations had reached 591mm at Taipingshan (太平山) in Ilan County, 552mm at Lalashan (拉拉山) in Taoyuan County, 545mm in the Tonghou (桶後) area in Taipei County and 506mm at Siciousihshan (西丘斯山) in Hsinchu County.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
Tsai said the eye of the storm was likely to skirt the nation’s northeastern coast early today, resulting in a brief period of calm weather.
At 9:15 pm last night, Sinlaku was 70km east-southeast of Ilan, moving west-northwesterly at 6kph, packing maximum sustained winds of 173kph toward the eastern coast.
A 21-year-old man was reported injured in Taoyuan County after being hit by a collapsed fence while riding his motorcycle on Friday night.
Of the 86,108 households that lost electricity from the typhoon, power was restored in all but some 6,000 as of 5:30 pm yesterday, the Central Emergency Operation Center said.
The center said 249 groups of hikers had returned from mountains they were climbing before the typhoon arrived, while seven groups, with a total of 28 people, sought shelter in the mountains after hearing of the storm.
Most rail services and domestic flights were cancelled and all international flights departing from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport were suspended for seven hours from 14:30pm yesterday. Thousands of fishing boats were also sheltering in ports.
In response to the severe weather conditions, the Taiwan Railway Administration suspended all regular train services before midnight last night, while commuter trains ran as weather permitted. The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp provided only limited service. All ferry services connecting Taiwan proper to Matsu, Ludao (綠島), Lanyu (蘭嶼), Little Liouciou (小琉球) and Penghu County were canceled.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOA IOK-SIN
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
RSS