South bears brunt of typhoon rains

Although strong winds and heavy rain brought by Typhoon Dujuan will subside today, residents in eastern and northern parts of the country should be alert to landslides and mudflows in mountainous areas, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.

Rain from the typhoon fell on much of Taiwan yesterday, prompting the government to establish disaster relief centers.

The Penghu County government announced that all fishing and shuttle boats would be confined to ports until the sea warning is lifted. All schools in the county will be closed today. Schools and offices will also be closed in Taitung, Pingtung and parts of Hualien counties.

The Hengchun Peninsula in southern Pingtung County was hit by severe winds and torrential rains. More than 1,000 fishermen from China living on 23 boats were allowed to take shelter from the wind at the county's Tungkang Port.

Airports in Taitung County were closed.

Forecasters said that Dujuan would pass southern Taiwan and head for southern China today but that wind and rain could still make mountainous areas dangerous.

Rainfall in Ilan and Hsinchu counties exceeded 100mm yesterday.

Water Resources Agency Director Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) said yesterday that the rain would probably be insufficient to end the water shortages in the north.

Chen said that the Ministry of Economic Affairs would meet on Thursday to discuss whether to impose stricter water rationing in the Taipei and Taoyuan areas.

"We predict that stricter water restrictions might be imposed after Sept. 11," Chen said.

TransAsia Airways yesterday announced it was canceling all domestic flights scheduled to take off before 10am this morning. The company also urged its customers planning to travel between Kaohsiung and Macau to call their travel agencies before leaving for the airport.

China Airlines yesterday also announced it was canceling all its flights leaving and arriving in Kaohsiung this morning.

Scientists yesterday took advantage of the typhoon to try out a new government-sponsored scientific research project using dropsondes.

A aircraft took off from a military base in Taichung and released the dropsonde, which was attached to a parachute. The dropsonde gathered information on air pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed and transmitted the data to the aircraft via its global positioning system receivers.

According to Wu Chun-Chieh (吳俊傑), an atmospheric scientist at National Taiwan University, real-time data was then transferred back to the Central Weather Bureau from the aircraft.

Scientists say the observations will significantly improve the accuracy of typhoon forecasts, further enhancing the effectiveness of disaster-prevention measures.