Taiwan readied itself for a typhoon edging closer to the island and a forecast of heavy rain to areas where tens of thou-sands of people were made homeless by the devastating earthquake.
The Central Weather Bureau issued sea warnings for the Bashi Channel yesterday as the outer edges of Typhoon Dan began a slow creep through the Bashi Strait close to the Philippines.
As of 11:30pm last night, the typhoon was located about 550km southeast of Hengchun (
Even though the storm was still hundreds of kilometers away, forecasters warned further rains could cause havoc among weakened and collapsed buildings and bring further misery to the homeless.
"Heavy rains are expected in mountainous areas of the eastern and northern part of the island," said Wu Teh-jung, the bureau's deputy director.
"We may not have as much rainfall in central Taiwan, but the landscape there is fragile and prone to rains following the killer quake," Wu warned.
He added downpours could also trigger landslides and urged the 100,000 people left homeless by the Sept. 21 earthquake to take immediate precautions.
Yesterday's heavy rains significantly reduced electricity consumption across northern Taiwan, easing the power crunch that followed the earthquake. Taipower suspended power rationing for residential areas and 12 industrial zones across northern Taiwan yesterday.
However, Taipower officials expressed concern about the vulnerability of the temporary electricity lines set up after the 921 earthquake.
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