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`Weirdest typhoon' hits Taiwan

Sea waves brought by Typhoon Nari hit an abandoned lighthouse on the shore of Keelung yesterday. Nari made landfall last night. PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

Typhoon Nari stood off the northeastern tip of Taiwan yesterday bringing heavy rains and strong winds and made landfall at 9:40pm between Ilan County and Keelung, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.

Dubbed the "weirdest storm in Taiwan's history," with an unpredictable path and strength, Typhoon Nari yesterday trailed on a bow-shaped course back and forth in the Pacific Ocean, once tricking the bureau to lift a storm warning because it showed little movement.

However, as the typhoon continued to hover over the sea, the warning was reissued again last Thursday. The typhoon is expected to bring high winds and heavy rains to Taiwan for two more days amid warnings of disruption to transportation systems as well as possible power outages, flooding and mudslides.

At 5pm yesterday, the typhoon's center was about 80km east of Keelung with a radius of 150km, packing winds of 145kph and gusts of up to 180kph, moving west-southwest at 6kph.

The typhoon's rainfall in the northern mountains could be as much as a meter, posing great threats of flood and possible mudslides in Ilan and Hualien Counties.

Taipei's Sungshan Airport shut down yesterday at 2pm, forcing all domestic flights taking off from Taipei to be canceled and major international flights taking off from CKS airport to be rescheduled.

Railway transportation including the North Link Railway, the Ilan Railway and the Western Railway, stopped regular services at 2:30pm.

No casualties had been reported as of press time yesterday since residents in the areas which were susceptible to mudslides -- including Taipei's Tamsui township, Taoyuan's Fuhsing and Yisheng townships and Nantou's Hsinyi, Shuili and Luku townships -- were safely evacuated to local emergency centers.

However, it was reported yesterday that a blackout in Ilan County had affected at least 25,000 households.

In preparation for the typhoon, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Premier Chang Chung-hsiung (張俊雄) yesterday made several inspection tours to the central government's emergency task force centers, instructing all local emergency task forces to stay alert and implement necessary emergency measures.

Typhoon Toraji ripped through Taiwan in late July killing about 200 people and causing more than NT$6 billion (US$173 million) in damage. Toraji was one of the worst storms ever to hit the island.

The storms draw strength from the warm waters of the South China Sea, but usually weaken after making landfall.
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