Weather: Typhoons lurk

Taiwan might be visited this year by three of the 27 typhoons that are expected to boil out of the Pacific Ocean over the course of the next six months, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) reported yesterday. However, CWB officials warned the public not to pin their hopes on these typhoons easing Taiwan's water shortage. Officials from the CWB's Weather Forecast Center urged the public to be well-prepared for typhoons, pointing out that property damage caused by typhoons in Taiwan averages about NT$13 billion (US$388 million) per year, constituting about 75 percent of all weather-related damage.