Typhoon Hinnamnor yesterday brought heavy rains and strong winds to New Taipei City, Yilan County and Keelung after the Central Weather Bureau issued a land warning in the morning, saying that the storm was expected to pass near Taiwan’s northeast coast.
As of 10:15 pm yesterday, Hinnamnor was centered near the westernmost islands of Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, a bureau map showed.
The storm had sustained winds of 173kph, with gusts of up to 209kph, the bureau said.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
Heavy or extremely heavy rain advisories were issued for New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli counties, as well as mountainous areas in Taipei and Yilan. Heavy rains were also expected in Taichung.
The bureau defines heavy rain as accumulated rainfall of 80mm or more within 24 hours, or 40mm or more within an hour, while extremely heavy rain refers to accumulated rainfall of 200mm or more within 24 hours.
Coastal and open areas in western, northeastern and eastern Taiwan, as well as Pingtung County’s Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島), and Penghu and Lienchiang counties, yesterday afternoon reported wind gusts of 75kph to 118kph.
A sea warning that was issued at 8:30am on Friday remained in effect as of press time last night, with ships operating in waters northeast, southeast and north of Taiwan, as well as in the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, advised to be on alert.
Hinnamnor caused the cancelation of eight flights and 106 ferry services, but it did not affect railway services, local authorities said.
Airlines canceled two domestic and six international flights, the Civil Aeronautics Administration said, adding that the storm was forecast to skirt the northeast coast last night.
The Port Authority reported ferry cancelations on 12 routes from Taiwan proper to Penghu, Green Island, Orchid Island, Matsu and Pingtung’s Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球).
The Taiwan Railways Administration said no train services had been canceled as of 6pm, but advised people to check the latest updates when planning a trip.
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp said its services would remain normal throughout yesterday, but it might operate trains at lower speeds amid heavy rain or strong wind.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more