Meteorologists at the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) predicted yesterday that land warnings would be cleared as early as tomorrow morning on Taiwan and its outlying islands after Typhoon Sinlaku unleashes its full fury between last night and today.
Although there were no casualties as of press time yesterday, two people were reported missing, according to the Cabinet-level disaster command center.
A woman, Wu Yi-ping (吳?ETH>萍), was reportedly missing after being swept away by a wave during high tide at Hualian County's Chi-Hsing Tan beach early yesterday morning. A man, Chen Kuo (3秣?, was apparently lost after he went into a mountainous area of Taipei County to pick herbs on Tuesday.
"Although we expect to clear the land warning in Taiwan as soon as Saturday night, the warnings for outlying islands, such as Matsu and Kinmen, will not be cleared until early Sunday morning," said deputy director of the CWB's weather forecast center, Daniel Wu (吳德榮), yesterday.
As the mid-strength typhoon passed over Taiwan's northeast tip yesterday, triggering heavy rainfall and strong wind in northern and northeastern parts of the country, the CWB warned that Sinlaku should cast its strongest influence on Taiwan between last night and this morning.
As of yesterday evening, northern Taiwan had experienced 8-degree gusts (winds of about 10m per second). However, Wu said that the "destructive winds," or the 10-degree gusts (winds of about 17m per second), would lash the island as Sinlaku reached its peak.
According to the bureau, the highest precipitation was observed in mountainous areas around Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli yesterday.
"Since Sinlaku's speed has been slow, Taiwan should be prepared to receive a lot of precipitation," said Wu, warning residents of possible disasters triggered by the downpour, including flooding, landslides, and mudslides.
The bureau also advised residents in low-lying areas of the danger of flash floods caused by seasonal high tides and torrential rain.
The seasonal high tide took place at 11pm last night and will occur again at 11am today.
Maintaining an average speed of 11kph, Sinlaku continues to move in a westward direction, with a radius of 300km and maximum sustained winds of 145kph.
The weather bureau estimated that the center of the typhoon would be at 120km north-northeast of Taipei around 2pm today.
By then, areas in the northern and central part of Taiwan, including regions north of Changhua and Yunlin, will be within Sinlaku's radius.
Moreover, the bureau predicted that Sinlaku would continue to move westward after it left Taiwan on Sunday, entering China between Kinmen and Matsu.
Sinlaku is the strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan this year.
Most government services, business and schools in northern part of Taiwan, including those in the capital, as well as the nation's financial markets, were closed yesterday.
Also of concern yesterday were 13 mountain climbers who had started of their expedition before the typhoon warning was issued.
The mountaineering teams include six students from National Chung Cheng University, five students from National Chengchi University, one student from Da-Yeh University, and one student from National Chi-nan University.
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