Taiwan proper and the nation’s outlying islands are expected to be out of the storm circle of Typhoon Malakas by 4am and 11am respectively today, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
Land and sea warnings for Malakas are expected to be lifted this morning, the bureau said.
At 8pm yesterday, Malakas was centered about 150km east-northeast of Taipei, moving at 5kph north-northeast, data from the bureau showed.
Photo: Wu Cheng-ting, Taipei Times
It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph, with gusts reaching 198kph, the bureau said.
There had been no reports of injury as of press time last night.
A total of 2,788 people in New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Yilan and Hualien counties were evacuated as a precautionary measure, the Central Emergency Operation Center said.
Photo: Li Jung-ping, Taipei Times
The bureau maintained torrential rain alerts for mountain areas in New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Hsinchu and Miaoli counties.
It also issued heavy rain alerts for Keelung and Yilan County, as well as for mountain areas in Taipei, and Taichung, as well as Nantou and Yilan counties. The bureau cautioned people in these areas to beware of rock falls, landslides, flash floods and flooding in low-lying areas.
The Taiwan Railways Administration suspended all services on its Pingsi and Shenao lines yesterday, as well as services on its North Link and Yilan lines in northeastern Taiwan until 6pm.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The Taiwan High Speed Rail yesterday maintained its normal schedule.
Taoyuan Airport Corp, the company that runs Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, said that 68 flights were disrupted by the typhoon, affecting about 12,800 passengers.
The company said that as of 4pm, 68 flights were affected, mostly China-registered airlines, including 39 passenger flights that were canceled, 25 flights that were delayed and four cargo flights that were canceled.
Photo courtesy of Alishan Forest Railway Administration
On average, 570 flights arrive and depart from the airport each day, the company said, adding that the affected flights accounted for 11.9 percent of the total.
Meanwhile, UNI Air (立榮航空) yesterday said that its round-trip service between Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and Kinmen would be canceled today.
Its flights to and from Matsu before 10am today would also be canceled, but the airline is expected to resume its normal schedule after 10am.
As today is the last day of the four-day Mid-Autumn Festival, UNI Air said it would offer four additional flights — including two flights between Kinmen and Songshan airport, one between Kaohsiung and Magong Airport and one between Magong and Songshan airport.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a