At a press conference held at the Central Emergency Operation Center yesterday, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said he had told the Pingtung County Government to draw up measures to prevent people from surfing, fishing and watching the waves along the coast.
He said he had ordered the Water Resources Agency to cooperate with the Taitung and Pingtung county governments in dredging rivers in eastern Taiwan ahead of the typhoon.
Wu said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was very concerned about possible damage if the typhoon brought torrential rain.
The CWB dispatched 25 weather experts to assist local emergency operation centers, Wu said.
“If it turns out that the typhoon spares us, the entire country will have held a thorough [disaster prevention] drill,” Wu said.
“And if the typhoon does hit, we need to mitigate the damage it causes,” he said.
While the Taipei City Government has stockpiled sandbags for residents to keep floodwater from reaching their homes, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said it was unlikely that the city would declare a typhoon day today because the rainfall in Taipei had not exceeded the city’s standard for closing workplaces and schools — 78mm per hour.
At press time, Pingtung County’s Hengchun, Checheng (車城), Manjhou (滿州), Fangshan (枋山), Shihzih (獅子) and Mutan (牡丹) townships, Taitung County’s Daren Township (達仁) were the only ones declaring today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes.
Wu also warned of possible mudslides in Hualien after a major earthquake off the coast of Hualien early yesterday morning.
While the bureau put the magnitude at 6.3 on the Richter scale, the US Geological Survey said it was 6.1, after first gauging it at 6.2.
The survey said the quake, which struck at 1:36am yesterday, was centered about 29km south of Hualien.
It was strong enough to wake some people in Taipei.
“We do not have reports of casualties or damage,” an official from the CWB said.
The bureau warned residents in coastal areas to be on the lookout for large waves, but did not issue a tsunami warning.
“Judging from the [mudslide] situations after the 921 Earthquake [on Sept. 29, 1999], earthquakes could induce more landslides,” Wu said.
RSS