Typhoon Kaemi was expected to make landfall in eastern Taiwan early this morning, pounding the east coast, Penghu and Kinmen counties and regions south of Hsinchu County with heavy winds and rains.
As of 9:15pm yesterday, the center of the fifth typhoon of the year was located 90km southeast of Taitung County. It was moving northwest at 16kph, with the radius of the storm reaching 200km, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).
Heavy rains are likely in Taitung and Hualien counties and the mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan, the CWB said.
Rain and winds in the western part of the country are not expected to turn stronger until this morning, as the region is shielded by the central mountains.
CWB spokesman Lu Kuo-cheng (
The bureau alerted people to the danger of landslides, falling rocks, and swelling streams and rivers in the mountains caused by torrential rain.
A tour bus was hit by a falling rock in Taroko National Park yesterday, injuring five.
Tourists were evacuated yesterday from Green Island and Orchid Island.
Residents in Taitung were dismissed from work and classes as of 4pm yesterday, and Orchid Islanders also left work and classes yesterday afternoon.
But Keelung residents must attend school or work today, the Keelung City Government announced yesterday.
The weather bureau also warned people in low-lying areas of possible flooding caused by riptides.
Anyone who swims in the sea or gets too close to the waves during the typhoon will be fined up to NT$250,000 according to the Disaster Prevention and Rescue Law (
Domestic flights to and from Hualien and Taitung were canceled as of 3pm yesterday.
Far Eastern Air Transport also canceled its flights after 6pm yesterday between Taipei and Tainan, and between Taipei and Kaohsiung, while Mandarin Airlines canceled all flights after 3pm. Today's domestic flights on Uni Air have also been canceled.
Trains to Alishan have been canceled until the typhoon has passed, according to the Council of Agriculture (COA).
The Taiwan Railway Administration announced last night that express trains operating on the North Link, South Link and the Hualian-Taitung line would be canceled today.
Ships commuting between Penghu and Chiayi counties have been canceled for three days, starting yesterday.
Tourist ferries in Kaohsiung City have been canceled until the city lifts its typhoon alert.
Vegetable supplies are normal, with the average price of each transaction being NT$37.7, the COA said in its press release yesterday.
Parking along yellow and red lines in Taipei City will not be allowed during this storm, the city's Department of Transportation announced yesterday.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and