Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon.
As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point.
It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed.
Photo: Screen grab from the Central Weather Administration’s Web site
Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said.
The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, Wu said.
Southern Taiwan would be more heavily affected by the storm if the northward turn takes place later than forecast, she said.
Krathon was still expanding and is expected to further strengthen after being upgraded to a typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said.
Wu said a land warning could be issued between late last night and early today, and the storm’s periphery would likely reach Taiwan this afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Central Emergency Operation Center urged people to avoid visits to the seaside and mountainous areas.
City and county governments need to prepare for potential floods and restrict or ban access to mountains and coastal areas, which would be enforced by the police and the Coast Guard Administration, the center said.
Kaohsiung’s Water Resources Bureau said that its 25 detention basins, which can hold a combined 4.98 million cubic meters of stormwater, have been emptied.
The city was hit hard by floods in late July due to heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Gaemi.
The center was opened in response to Krathon after the CWA issued a sea warning for ships operating in the Bashi Channel at 8:30am yesterday, as the storm was forecast to move toward waters off southern Taiwan in the following 24 hours.
Restricted areas in Yushan National Park and Shei-Pa National Park have been closed due to the sea warning, and entry permits issued for dates before the reopening would be invalid, the parks said.
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency announced the closure of ticketed national forest recreation areas in several counties until Wednesday.
Ferry services between Keelung and Matsu, Tainan and Dongji Islet (東吉嶼), and ports in Taitung, Pingtung, Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) were suspended yesterday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said.
Ferry operators in Pingtung also announced the cancelation of services to and from Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) tomorrow and Wednesday, when Taiwan is forecast to be most affected by the storm.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session yesterday while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival- threatening
RSS