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Sinlaku unleashes fury on Taiwan

SOURCE: CENTRAL WEATHER BUREAU

Typhoon Sinlaku lashed Taiwan yesterday with powerful winds and heavy rains, disrupting flights and train services and cutting electricity supply to almost 50,000 households.

The Central Weather Bureau said that although the storm’s eyewall — the ring of towering thunderstorms surrounding the eye where the most severe weather occurs — could be damaged after hitting land, Sinlaku would maintain its structure and remain a serious threat.

The slow-moving typhoon, with a 250km radius, is not expected to completely leave Taiwan until Tuesday and will have the greatest impact sometime before this afternoon, said Fred Tsai (蔡甫甸), a senior forecaster at the bureau.

During that period, rainfall in the northern, northeastern, eastern, central and southern parts of Taiwan could reach the “extremely heavy rain” or “torrential rain” categories, defined respectively as rainfall exceeding 130mm and 200mm over a 24-hour period, he said.

The mountainous areas in these regions could even see “extremely torrential rain,” which refers to rainfall exceeding 350mm in 24 hours, Tsai said, warning people across the country — particularly those in coastal and mountainous regions — to take precautions against flooding and mudslides.

People visit Xiziwan in Kaohsiung as Typhoon Sinlaku closes in on Taiwan yesterday. PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES

The bureau said that from Friday until 4pm yesterday, accumulations had reached 591mm at Taipingshan (太平山) in Ilan County, 552mm at Lalashan (拉拉山) in Taoyuan County, 545mm in the Tonghou (桶後) area in Taipei County and 506mm at Siciousihshan (西丘斯山) in Hsinchu County.

Tsai said the eye of the storm was likely to skirt the nation’s northeastern coast early today, resulting in a brief period of calm weather.

At 9:15 pm last night, Sinlaku was 70km east-southeast of Ilan, moving west-northwesterly at 6kph, packing maximum sustained winds of 173kph toward the eastern coast.

A 21-year-old man was reported injured in Taoyuan County after being hit by a collapsed fence while riding his motorcycle on Friday night.

Of the 86,108 households that lost electricity from the typhoon, power was restored in all but some 6,000 as of 5:30 pm yesterday, the Central Emergency Operation Center said.

The center said 249 groups of hikers had returned from mountains they were climbing before the typhoon arrived, while seven groups, with a total of 28 people, sought shelter in the mountains after hearing of the storm.

Most rail services and domestic flights were cancelled and all international flights departing from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport were suspended for seven hours from 14:30pm yesterday. Thousands of fishing boats were also sheltering in ports.

In response to the severe weather conditions, the Taiwan Railway Administration suspended all regular train services before midnight last night, while commuter trains ran as weather permitted. The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp provided only limited service. All ferry services connecting Taiwan proper to Matsu, Ludao (綠島), Lanyu (蘭嶼), Little Liouciou (小琉球) and Penghu County were canceled.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOA IOK-SIN
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