WEATHER
Typhoon warning possible
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday said it could issue a sea warning for Typhoon Khanun tomorrow, as the strengthening storm heads toward Japan’s Ryukyu Islands. As of 2pm, the center of Khanun, which formed in the west Pacific on Friday and strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, was 1,270km east-southeast of Taiwan’s southernmost tip, Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), moving at 24kph in a north-northwesterly direction, it said. Khanun had a radius of 220km and it was packing maximum sustained winds of 119kph with gusts of up to 155kph, the bureau said. While Khanun’s impact on Taiwan remains unclear, forecasters said that the outer rim of the typhoon could bring showers to northern and southern parts of the nation from tomorrow. The rain hot spots are likely to concentrate in central and southern Taiwan from Wednesday, the CWB said.
TRANSPORTATION
MRT to rent out umbrellas
Taipei MRT is to introduce an umbrella-sharing service in all its stations at the end of next month, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said on Thursday. The umbrella service is to be provided at the Taipei MRT’s 117 stations by Raingo, a contractor of the new sharing scheme, it said. The new service is planned to allow people to rent an umbrella and return it at a different MRT station, it said. The rental fee for an umbrella is planned to be set at NT$19 per hour with a 24-hour cap of NT$39, it said, adding that if the umbrella is not returned after one day, an additional NT$20 would be charged every 24 hours thereafter. The service could provide the company with an additional annual income of NT$3 million (US$95,572), TRTC said. After making a net profit of NT$189 million in 2019, the company posted annual losses ranging from NT$12 million to NT$514 million from 2020 to 2022.
DOMESTIC
Man drowns in north
A 43-year-old man died and three children were rescued in separate incidents on Taiwan’s northern coast yesterday, local authorities said. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a report at 11:46am about the possible drowning of a father and son at a beach near Wanli Fishing Port (萬里漁港). They found the 43-year-old father, surnamed Tsai (蔡), without vital signs and attempted to administer CPR, while the son was conscious. Both were transported by ambulance to Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s branch in Keelung, where the father was pronounced dead, it said. The department said it had also responded to a separate drowning scare near Cape Fuguei (富貴角) Lighthouse in which two girls aged 11 and 9 were pulled out to sea by a large wave. By the time paramedics reached the area, a group of adults had already rescued the children. Both were later taken to be treated at Mackay Memorial Hospital’s Tamsui branch, it said.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
COMMUNITY SPIRIT: As authorities were busy with post-typhoon cleanups elsewhere, residents cleaned fallen leaves and cut small fallen trees blocking the hiking trails All hiking trails damaged by Typhoon Kong-rey have been repaired and has reopened for people who want a refreshing hike in Taipei during the Lunar New Year holiday, a city official said. The Taipei Basin is known for its easily accessible hiking trails. It has more than 130 trails combined into the 92km-long Taipei Grand Trail, which was divided into seven major routes when it was launched by the Taipei City Government in 2018. Last year, a part of the sixth route of the Grand Trail collapsed due to Typhoon Kong-rey, which hit Taiwan in October. The damaged section belongs to one
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