A sea warning for Typhoon Koinu was issued at 11:30pm last night, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that a land warning could be issued today.
High waves of about 2m were observed in Taitung yesterday, while waves of 6m or higher were forecast for today, said Huang Chia-mei (黃嘉美), head of the CWA’s Taitung Weather Station.
At noon yesterday, Koinu was about 660km southeast of Taitung, she said, adding that it was moving more to the north and its center could possibly make landfall.
The storm’s outer rim would likely reach Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) in the early hours tomorrow and Taitung at about midday, she said.
About 1,500 people boarded ferries from Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island to Taitung yesterday morning before ferry services were suspended due to the approaching typhoon.
All ferry traffic to and from the islands was to be halted from 11:30am yesterday through Thursday, the East Taiwan Maritime Affairs Office announced on Saturday.
At Taitung’s Fugang Fishing Port (富岡漁港), almost all of those traveling yesterday morning were inbound passengers. Only a handful of people, mainly residents of the two islands, and logistics boats carrying provisions were seen making the outbound journey.
One arriving traveler, surnamed Chen (陳), said that she had moved her return trip forward from the afternoon because of the suspension of services, but said the waves along the route were already “considerably larger” than on her outbound trip.
At the port, fishing boat operators were also seen tying down their vessels in preparation for the typhoon.
One of them, surnamed Ho (何), said the typhoon would likely keep him off the seas for a week, exacerbating financial pressures from last month, when Taitung was hit by Typhoon Haikui.
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