Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added.
CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA
Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added.
As of 8pm last night, Ragasa’s center was about 270km south of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, the CWA said, adding that the storm was moving west-northwest at 20kph, with winds near the storm’s center reaching 209kph. It had a radius of 320km.
Ragasa disrupted domestic transport yesterday, resulting in the cancelation of all flights to outlying islands from the afternoon and the suspension of 88 ferry services on 13 routes, local carriers and transportation authorities said.
Some international flights were also canceled or rescheduled due to the typhoon.
As of press time last night, Hualien and Taitung counties had announced today as a typhoon day, canceling work and classes, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties would also close today.
In other news, a high-school student in Tainan was questioned by the police yesterday and referred to a local court for allegedly contravening the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).
Photo: CNA
The student, allegedly through an account using Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che’s (黃偉哲) photo, on Sunday evening posted false information on social media platform Threads about schools being canceled yesterday due to the typhoon, writing: “Tainan is off tomorrow!”
Although the student later deleted the post and said it was just a joke, police said her actions contravened Article 63 of the act, which prohibits spreading rumors that disturb public peace.
Her actions could result in detention of up to three days or a maximum fine of NT$30,000 (US$992), they said.
Article 53 of the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act (災害防救法) also stipulates that those who spread false information about disasters face a fine of NT$300,000 to NT$500,000, police said.
If the spreading of rumors or false information about a disaster causes damage to the public or others, the punishment could include imprisonment for up to three years, detention or a maximum fine of NT$1 million, it said.
Additional reporting by Wang Han-ping
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