The Central Weather Bureau yesterday issued a land alert for Typhoon Megi, as it approached the east coast bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall to most of the nation.
The bureau said the alert applies to all cities and counties in Taiwan proper, as well as Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島), adding that a sea alert issued late on Sunday night applies to the Bashi Channel near the coast of Taiwan.
At 8pm yesterday, the center of the typhoon was 490km west of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻). The radius of the storm was 250km. It was moving west-northwest at 20kph, with maximum wind speeds reaching 216kph.
Photo: CNA
Schools and offices on Green and Orchid islands were closed yesterday evening as the two islands faced an immediate threat from the typhoon.
The bureau recorded wind speeds on Orchid Island reaching Level 13 on the Beaufort scale.
Sixteen domestic flights and four international flights were canceled yesterday due to the imminent arrival of Megi.
Photo: AFP
At press time last night all counties and cities had declared a typhoon day, except Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, which declared a regular work and school day.
Yunlin county, Chiayi city and county, as well as Tainan and Kaohsiung, declared this morning a regular work and school day, and a typhoon day after 12pm.
Bureau forecaster Hsieh Ming-chang (謝明昌) said the typhoon is expected to affect the nation all day today and tomorrow morning with heavy rainfall and strong winds as it moves from the east coast to the west coast.
Although most of the nation had sunny skies yesterday, rain and winds brought by Megi started affecting the east coast and northern Taiwan yesterday afternoon and evening, and are expected to continue today, Hsieh said.
Megi’s eye is forecast to make landfall somewhere between Hualien and Taitung this afternoon and enter the Taiwan Strait later this evening, Hsieh said.
Rain is expected to quickly accumulate in the southwest after about 8pm today as southwesterly winds begin to pick up speed, Hsieh said.
Hsieh added that rain is expected to ease across most of the nation by tomorrow morning, but Kinmen would see stormy weather throughout the day.
Weather Risk Explorer Inc chief executive officer Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) said on Facebook that people in the north in particular must pay attention to typhoon updates because Megi’s path is moving slightly northward, unlike the other three typhoons this year that hit mainly the east and south of the nation.
Former bureau director-general Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said the area to the north of the typhoon’s center is likely to face a greater threat, as the typhoon’s northern side has a longer radius than its southern side.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration said all domestic flights would be canceled today.
Low-cost carrier Peach Aviation yesterday announced that it would cancel 12 flights to Japan scheduled to depart from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport today, including those to Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa.
TransAsia Airways (復興航空) said that it would continue its flights today as planned, except flights from Kaohsiung to Lanzhou which would depart three hours ahead of schedule.
Two Japan Airlines flights —from Taoyuan to Osaka International Airport and from Taoyuan to Tokyo Narita Airport — are to depart at 8:15am and 8:30am today, respectively.
XiamenAir said it would cancel eight flights between Taoyuan and Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Xiamen and Xiamen and Changsha, as well as two flights between Xiamen and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport).
People scheduled to travel today are advised to contact the airlines directly before going to the airport.
High-speed rail services are to be suspended all day today.
With the exception of commuter trains on the west coast that are expected to operate weather permitting, all other Taiwan Railways Administration services are canceled today.
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