With central Taiwan still struggling to recover from the damage brought by Tropical Storm Mindulle last month, meteorologists yesterday called on residents living in the northern and northeastern regions to brace themselves for more rain and wind as Typhoon Rananim moves towards Taiwan.
As of press time yesterday, the typhoon was centered at 360km east northeast of Taipei, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB), and heading northwest at speeds of up to 17kph.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
It is expected to be 180km north northeast of Taiwan by 5pm this evening.
CWB meteorologists expect that Taiwan be affected by Rananim today and tomorrow at the very least, citing that the storm, which is currently classified as moderate in strength and impact, was just shy of being categorized as a major typhoon.
With a radius of 250km, maximum sustained winds of 140kph, and gusts of up to 175kph, the typhoon is expected to continue to gain strength according to CWB forecasts last night.
Accompanying rainfall is predicted to be especially heavy beginning early today and lasting until 5pm tonight as Typhoon Rananim continues to head northwest towards China.
By yesterday evening, the typhoon had brought 122mm of rain to Taipei County, with Taitung and Hsinchu seeing the highest levels of rainfall at 143mm of rain and 174mm respectively.
As much as 600mm of rain was expected for the northern mountainous regions yesterday night.
At 11:30am yesterday, the CWB issued land warnings for Keelung, Ilan, Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli. The CWB also warned that vessels operating in waters off of Taiwan's north, northeast, and southeast coasts, and in the northern part of the Taiwan Strait should be on high alert against to heavy winds and rainfall.
Residents should beware of possible landslides, falling rocks, flash floods and rising water levels, as torrential rain is expected in the north, northeast and south central mountain regions, CWB meteorologists said.
Water Resources Agency director Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) also said yesterday that residents should stay away from the Taipei County Hsichih portion of the Peigang River and Keelung City's Yurei Creek as breakers protecting against flooding were insufficient in the areas.
However, he played down the damage that rainfall could bring.
"Although Typhoon Rananim will bring torrential rain to Taiwan, if the rainfall is not concentrated in a short amount of time, the impact in northern Taiwan should not be overly damaging," Chen said.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting