The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow.
People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said.
As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached 191km per hour, with the storm’s radius expanding to 320km, it said.
The CWA issued a sea alert and a land alert for Ragasa at 8:40am and 5:30pm respectively. The sea alert applies to vessels off the nation’s southeast coast, in the Bashi Channel, south of the Taiwan Strait and near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙島), while the land alert applies to the Hengchun Peninsula in Pingtung County.
Although the projected path showed that Ragasa’s center was unlikely to make landfall in Taiwan, the typhoon remained well-structured and had a broad radius, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said, adding that it could get stronger as it moved closer to Taiwan.
As of 2pm yesterday, waves of more than 2m had been observed off Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼), Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Taitung County, she said.
Rain would mostly fall on the east coast today, with heavy or extremely heavy rainfall forecast for the north coast and Hengchun Peninsula, the CWA said.
Rain is forecast for Lienchiang County (Matsu), areas north of Taoyuan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, it said.
There is a low change of rain in the areas on the west coast between Taoyuan and Tainan today, and a high temperature alert could be issued for Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi counties, it added.
People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, which could reach level 8 to 10 on the Beaufort scale, it said.
Rain on the east coast and mountainous areas in Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties could surge tonight, the agency said.
Extremely heavy rainfall was forecast in Hualien and Taitung counties as well as mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties from tonight to early Wednesday morning, it added.
Heavy or extremely heavy rain was forecast for mountainous areas in other parts of the nation, the CWA said.
Schools and offices in parts of Taitung and Pingtung counties will close today due to the typhoon.
The affected areas are Orchid Island and Green Island in Taitung County, and Fangshan (枋山), Checheng (車城), Hengchun (恆春), Shizih (獅子), Mudan (牡丹) and Manzhou (滿州) townships in Pingtung County, the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration, which oversees government workers, said in a statement last night.
Additional reporting by CNA
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS