The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Chanthu, as it continued to gain power while approaching Taiwan from the southeast.
As of 8pm last night, Chanthu was about 410km southeast of Pingtung County’s Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost point of Taiwan proper, moving northwest at 15kph toward the Bashi Channel.
The typhoon had maximum sustained winds of 209kph, with gusts of up to 263kph, bureau data showed.
Chanthu, which is likely to come closest to the nation over the weekend, could pose a threat throughout Taiwan proper, but particularly in Taitung and Pingtung, the bureau said.
Strong winds and heavy rainfall are forecast throughout the nation tomorrow, it said.
It was unclear whether Chanthu’s eye would make landfall, as that would depend on a Pacific high-pressure system, it said.
Photo: CNA
However, based on the storm’s trajectory yesterday afternoon, it is likely that Chanthu’s center would skirt eastern Taiwan as it heads north, forecasters said.
Food delivery service providers Uber Eats Taiwan and Foodpanda Taiwan Co (富胖達) said that no services would be offered should the government require office closures.
As of press time last night, Taitung County’s Lanyu (蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) townships had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes.
In anticipation of Chanthu, ferries serving Taitung County, Pingtung County, Orchid Island (Lanyu) and Green Island were suspended for yesterday and today.
The Taitung County Government ended its annual hot air balloon festival early on Thursday, citing Chanthu and the COVID-19 situation.
The festival, which was originally scheduled to take place from July 3 to Aug. 8, opened on Aug. 14 due to a level 3 COVID-19 alert and was to end on Sunday.
Average wholesale vegetable prices in Taipei rose to NT$48 per kilogram, Council of Agriculture data showed yesterday.
Vegetable prices would likely fall after Chanthu passes, dropping to under NT$35 next month, Agricultural and Food Agency Deputy Director-General Yao Chih-wang (姚志旺) said.
CLOSED FOR DISINFECTION: Two of the three local cases were linked to a cluster infection at a kindergarten, while the other case works at a McDonald’s restaurant The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported three new local COVID-19 infections and 11 imported cases, but no deaths. The local cases are two men and a woman aged between 20 and 80 who reside in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, the CECC said in a news release. Two of them are linked to a cluster infection at a kindergarten in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman. He said they are both associated with the mother of a kindergarten student, who was earlier confirmed to have
BIOLOGICAL AGENT: A containment exercise was held in southern Tainan, in response to a mock assault where troops were assumed to be attacked by bioweapons The live-fire component of this year’s annual Han Kuang military exercises, Taiwan’s major war games involving all military branches, began yesterday morning and is to run until Friday to test the armed forces’ capability to fend off a Chinese invasion. The 37th edition of the annual event officially began after the Ministry of National Defense’s Joint Operations Command Center, also known as the Hengshan Command Center, announced the initiation of the five-day live-fire drills. Yesterday’s drills were focused on testing the military’s preservation and maintenance of combat capabilities in the event of a full-scale Chinese invasion. As part of the drills, air force
‘RAISING TAIWAN’S VISIBILITY’: Premier Su Tseng-chang said changing TECRO’s name to include ‘Taiwan’ would make the representative office more recognizable The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday declined comment on a Financial Times report that the name of Taiwan’s representative office in Washington might be changed, saying only that bolstering and upgrading ties with the US has been the government’s long-term objective. The ministry made the comments after the UK-based newspaper reported on that US President Joe Biden’s administration is considering allowing the government to use the word “Taiwan” in the office’s title. The US is “seriously considering a request from Taiwan to change the name of its mission in the US capital from ‘Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office’ [TECRO] to ‘Taiwan
WELCOME BACK: Foreign spouses or minor children of Taiwanese can now directly apply for a visa with representative offices overseas, the CECC said Regulations on applications for entry to the nation by foreign spouses or minor children of Taiwanese have been relaxed effective immediately, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported two new local and three imported cases of COVID-19. Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Tsung-yen (陳宗彥), deputy head of the center, said the relaxation meant that such applications would be treated as general cases, instead of special ones that are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. “Considering the recent local COVID-19 situation and the needs of foreign spouses and children to visit their family in Taiwan, we are allowing Taiwan’s
RSS