Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night.
The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties.
People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday.
As of 8:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was 390km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 19kph, with maximum sustained winds near the center of 191kph. Its radius had expanded from 200km to 220km.
As Gaemi’s circumference extends to the waters in the Bashi Channel and off Taiwan’s east coast, the storm poses a threat to residents in Yilan, Hualien, Taitung and Nantou counties, as well as Kaohsiung and cities and counties north of Chiayi, the agency said, adding that the storm would gain strength as it expands.
The land alert applies to Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Kaohsiung, New Taipei City, Keelung, Hsinchu City and Chiayi City, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Taitung, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin and Chiayi counties, it said.
The sea alert applies to ships operating off the east and north coasts, north of the Taiwan Strait and in the Bashi Channel, it said.
The agency said it had detected 5m-high waves along the north and east coasts, as well as the Hengchun Peninsula, adding that people should avoid activities in coastal areas.
Residents in low-lying areas in the southwest, on the north coast and Yilan coast should beware of saltwater intrusion and flooding during high tide, it said.
Today, winds on Green Island and Orchid Island (蘭嶼, Lanyu) are forecast to reach 12 on the Beaufort scale, while those on the west coast, Hengchun Peninsula, Penghu and Lienchiang County could reach 11, it said.
Level 10 winds are forecast for the northeast and southeast coasts, it added.
The typhoon would be closest to Taiwan today and tomorrow, bringing showers or thundershowers to the west coast and northeast region. Isolated showers are forecast in other parts of the country.
Torrential rainfall is forecast in mountainous areas on the west coast, while heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is forecast in the mountainous areas in the northeast.
The agency’s projected path for the typhoon shows the center landing somewhere between Yilan and Hualien counties tonight.
While the high-speed rail system is to operate as scheduled today, airlines announced cancelations or flight schedule changes.
Mandarin Airlines (華信航空) canceled all domestic flights today.
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) canceled 76 flights departing from or returning to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport between 6pm today and 12pm tomorrow, while 12 flights are to take off early and 21 flights would be delayed.
There would be no changes in flights departing from or returning to Taipei and Kaohsiung international airports, it added.
Tigerair Taiwan Ltd (台灣虎航), Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) and Air Asia Group announced that flight schedules have been changed and advised travelers to check the status of their flights on the airlines’ Web sites.
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