People in northern Taiwan can expect torrential rainfall today as Typhoon Chan-Hom intensifies, with the radius of the storm forecast to cover Taipei and Keelung.
As of 10pm yesterday, Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan announced that classes and offices would be closed today.
Central Weather Bureau specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that the nation would be under the influence of the typhoon throughout the day, with extremely heavy rainfall forecast for the northeastern region and mountainous areas in central and northern Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
“People living in mountainous areas in northern Taiwan must pay close attention to weather updates and brace for torrential rainfall,” Wu said.
The bureau defines “extremely heavy rainfall” as cumulative rainfall of more than 130mm within 24 hours, while torrential rainfall pertains to an accumulation of 200mm.
High speed rail and regular train services are to run normally today until noon, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) and Taiwan Railway Administration said late last night.
Photo: CNA
Morning services will be provided as scheduled, but may be adjusted depending on the weather conditions, they said.
Train schedules after 1pm will be announced at 10am today, THSRC said.
Most domestic flights scheduled to depart from or arrive at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) today have been canceled.
TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空) and Mandarin Airlines (華信航空) yesterday said that all their flights connecting to Taipei will be canceled, while Uni Air (立榮航空) said all its flights to and from Taipei before noon will be canceled.
Far Eastern Air Transport (遠東航空) said its flights connecting to Taipei will be canceled — except for flights FE021 and FE061, which are to operate normally.
Travelers scheduled to depart from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport today are urged to check with their airlines for cancellation or postponement updates before leaving home.
The nation’s largest examination, the senior and junior exams for civil servants, which were scheduled for today, has been postponed until tomorrow.
As Chan-Hom approached Taiwan, the bureau issued a sea alert at 5:30am yesterday, which applied to vessels operating off the nation’s north and northeast coasts.
As of 5:30pm, the center of the typhoon was 680km east of Taipei. It was moving northwesterly at 20kph. Bureau statistics showed that the storm had generated large waves off the north and east coasts, with the largest in Taitung, reaching 6m.
As the typhoon appeared to be moving north, the bureau initially said that the chances it would issue a land alert were low. However, it issued a land alert at 8:30pm, as the radius of the storm expanded to include inland northern Taiwan.
Wu said that the typhoon has the potential to grow much stronger on its way to Taiwan. Aside from the rainfall, she said that people could also expect intermittent strong winds during daytime today.
The nation’s north and northeast coasts are to see gusts reaching level 9 on the Beaufort scale, indicating strong gales of between 74.6kph and 88.1kph, between this evening and tomorrow morning, when the typhoon is forecast to come closest to Taiwan, she said.
Meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that the interaction between Tropical Storm Linfa and Chan-Hom had affected the path of the typhoon.
“Chan-Hom moved slightly north on its way to Taiwan because of a little ‘push’ from Linfa, as well as a receding high-pressure system in the Pacific Ocean, which explained why the bureau previously forecast that it might not issue a land alert,” he said.
Daniel Wu said that Chan-Hom grew between 11:30am and 2:30pm, with the radius of the storm increasing from 220km to 250km. The 30km increase was key to prompting the bureau to issue a land alert, he said.
“Due to the typhoon’s massive size, every small move it makes generates completely different repercussions,” he added.
Earlier yesterday, a college student was carried away by a rogue wave on Green Island, southeast of Taiwan proper, as the typhoon approached.
The man was on the shore with seven companions when the wave suddenly struck, dragging three of them into the water.
Two of the students managed to find their way back to the shore, sustaining cuts from the rocks, while Coast Guard Administration personnel were still looking for the missing student at press time.
Additional reporting by Diane Baker and CNA
This story has been updated since it was first published to include train and airline information.
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