The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said it might issue a land warning for Typhoon Hinnamnor today and the issuance of a sea warning is highly probable as the storm is expected to draw near Taiwan.
The typhoon, which was 480km east of Hualien County as of 2pm yesterday, was moving south-southwest at 8kph with winds of up to 234kph, the bureau’s Web site showed.
Category 9 and 10 winds were reported on Taiwan proper’s east and northeast coasts, and on the coasts of northern Tainan, as well as in Penghu County, Lienchiang County and Pingtung County’s Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島), bureau forecaster Huang En-hong (黃恩鴻) told the Central News Agency.
Predictions on the path of the storm have begun to converge, with most experts saying that Hinnamnor would turn north 300km to 400km off Hualien, he said.
Hinnamnor has gathered strength after absorbing a smaller tropical depression, which is likely to increase its radius from 220km to 300km, with maximum eye wall winds of up to 208kph today, he said.
The issuance of a land warning cannot be “completely ruled out” because the storm might leave its predicted course and move west instead, most severely affecting New Taipei City’s Jinguashi (金瓜石) area, he said.
Photo: CNA
The typhoon is expected to cause heavy rain in northern and northeastern Taiwan until Sunday, with localized torrential rains possibly occurring in the mountains and along the northern coast near Keelung, he said.
Showers, including afternoon thundershowers, would likely occur throughout the country today and tomorrow, he said.
As Hinnamnor is expected to move away from Taiwan proper on Sunday, showers would likely continue in the northern, central and southern regions, while other places might see sunny conditions, he said.
However, afternoon thundershowers could still occur in the mountains on Sunday, he said.
Separately, the Central Election Commission said political candidates for the November elections might register until Saturday — a day after the original deadline — should local governments suspend registration services due to weather conditions.
If weather-related disruptions occur, the affected candidates can register on the first day of the resumption of service in accordance with election laws, it said.
Local task forces were established throughout the country to bolster storm safety at election commission offices to protect election workers, candidates and their staffers, it said.
The Examination Yuan said exams for prospective civil servants would be held on the weekend as scheduled.
People seeking government jobs in foreign affairs, international economics and trade, civil aviation, and indigenous affairs attending tomorrow’s tests should stay vigilant about personal safety and check weather updates regularly, it said.
The exams for foreign affairs, international economics and trade, and civil aviation would be held in Taipei, while indigenous affairs tests would also be held in Nantou, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, it said.
The written portion of the exams would take place tomorrow and on Sunday, to be followed by in-person interviews and English-language proficiency assessments on Monday, it said.
These tests are the primary method for the government to select people to work in diplomacy, international exchanges and civil aviation, it said.
The selection of civil servants to work in fields related to indigenous affairs are part of the government’s drive to boost employment rates for indigenous people, it said.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS