Typhoon Dolphin was expected to make its closest approach to Taiwan yesterday afternoon through today before continuing west toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, forecasting that mountainous areas of Hsinchu and Miaoli could receive the heaviest rainfall, with precipitation expected to reach 350mm to 500mm.
The rain could fall within a single day, raising the risk of torrential downpours, the agency warned.
The likelihood of a land warning for Taiwan proper has been ruled out, while the chance of a land warning for outlying Lienchiang County has fallen from the previous day’s estimate, it added.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration
If Dolphin’s track and intensity develop as predicted, all typhoon warnings could be lifted at about noon today, the CWA said.
As of 8pm yesterday, Dolphin was about 390km northeast of Taipei and moving west-northwest at 16kph before turning west, with maximum sustained winds of 126kph, CWA data showed.
The storm is expected to continue weakening as it passes north of Taiwan, but would likely remain a moderate typhoon until it reaches China, the CWA said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA
The agency has maintained a sea warning, with waves of more than 5m observed off northern and eastern Taiwan and potentially exceeding 6m.
Dolphin’s outer bands are expected to bring heavy rain from last night through today, with heavy rain or localized torrential rain possible in northern and central mountainous areas.
The CWA has issued strong wind warnings for the northern coast, as well as Yilan, Taitung, Pingtung and Lienchiang, where average wind speeds of 39kph to 49kph are possible.
A woman in Taipei was pinned down when construction fencing from renovation work outside the Sheraton Grand Taipei Hotel on Zhongxiao East Road collapsed around 1 pm yesterday. She was soon freed by passersby who moved the fencing.
The pedestrian suffered minor injuries, according to Taipei's Office of Disaster Management.
Meanwhile, collapsed scaffolding was reported at a construction site near Minquan West Road and Zhongshan North Road in Taipei. No injuries were reported.
The construction companies involved face a fine ranging from NT$60,000 (US$1,860) to NT$300,000 following the incidents, according to the office.
As of 5:30 pm, Taipei's Disaster Prevention and Rescue Center reported 75 typhoon-related incidents, including 27 cases of fallen trees, 12 cases of collapsed fences and corrugated iron sheets torn off amid strong winds, according to the office.
The office noted that wind speeds of 62-88 kilometers per hour were recorded in the city.
In New Taipei City's Tamsui District (天母), typhoon damage included blown-off iron sheet roofs, fallen trees, and leaning utility poles, according to local authorities.
Lienchiang County Government last night declared today a typhoon day today, canceling work and classes.
Typhoon Dolphin yesterday lashed Japan’s southern Okinawa Prefecture, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings, while China shut ports and halted ferries ahead of the storm’s expected arrival on its east coast.
Five elderly people, three of whom fell due to strong winds, had non-life-threatening injuries in Okinawa while another person was injured in Kagoshima Prefecture, authorities said.
Nearly 39,000 buildings were without power in Kagoshima while more than 12,000 were affected in Okinawa. Domestic airlines ANA and Japan Airlines canceled flights to and from Okinawa.
Okinawa and Amami Island in Kagoshima Prefecture were the main areas expected to be affected.
In China, where the typhoon is expected to make landfall between late today and early tomorrow, authorities have designated Dolphin as an orange-category typhoon — the second-highest level.
Worried about the risk of flooding and landslides, authorities also raised the emergency response for Dolphin to Level III, the second-lowest level.
Dolphin is most likely to make landfall between Zhejiang Province’s Zhoushan City and Fujian Province’s Fuding City, China’s National Meteorological Center said.
Rain and strong winds are expected to affect eastern China through Wednesday next week, including parts of Shanghai and neighboring provinces.
Some areas of eastern Zhejiang could receive more than 600mm of rain, forecasters said.
Zhejiang raised its coastal typhoon alert to its highest level, halted port operations and suspended 162 passenger ferry routes.
Fujian also suspended ferries.
Ningbo Lishe International Airport in Zhejiang halted operations from 11:30pm yesterday and said it would suspend all flights today.
Shanghai’s Yangshan Port had been cleared of vessels by late Friday, while some rail services in the Yangtze River Delta would be suspended from today.
China has ordered that, due to the typhoon, ships passing through the Taiwan Strait must heed its traffic control instructions — measures that Taiwan has denounced as “ridiculous,” saying that Beijing has no right to restrict access to international waters.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Taiwanese travelers could face exit restrictions as China expands government control under new regulations, an analyst said yesterday. China’s State Council has released new exit and entry regulations that expand the authorities’ power to restrict travel. Hung Pu-chao (洪浦釗), deputy head of Tunghai University’s Center for Mainland China and Regional Development Research, said the new regulations focus on managing cross-border activities as a whole, bringing the movement of talent, technology, information and social networks under the scope of national security oversight. The 19-part rules, which take effect on Sept. 15, were issued by Beijing for “regulating exit and entry management, protecting legitimate
Japan’s Defense White Paper released yesterday highlighted Taiwan Strait security as a major concern, saying China has expanded military activities around Taiwan, used repeated drills to normalize the presence of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and strengthened blockade, precision strike, and joint operation capabilities. Chinese military aircraft entering Taiwan’s surrounding airspace surpassed 3,700 sorties last year, a sharp increase from about 970 in 2021, the paper said, adding that Chinese naval activity around Taiwan also rose to about 2,600 sorties. Since 2022, Beijing has repeatedly conducted large-scale military drills around Taiwan, said the paper, which is titled Security for the Future. The
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued a sea warning for Typhoon Dolphin at 2:30pm yesterday, as the storm steadily moved toward the waters north of Taiwan, with heavy or extremely heavy rain expected over the weekend in the central mountains and the north. As of 5pm yesterday, Dolphin was about 680km east-northeast of Taipei and moving west at 10kph, with maximum sustained winds of 144kph and a storm radius of 280km, CWA data showed. While the typhoon has slowed slightly, it remains within forecast expectations and would not be longer than previously predicted, CWA forecaster Chu Mei-lin (朱美霖) told a news conference. The
Dutch elementary-school textbooks for English-language courses contain substantially more vocabulary and introduce more advanced words earlier than their Taiwanese counterparts, researchers said on Monday, citing a study that recommends expanding the range of vocabulary taught in Taiwanese classrooms. The study, conducted by the National Academy for Educational Research, compared elementary-school English textbooks used in Taiwan and the Netherlands, where English proficiency consistently ranks among the highest in the world. Academy associate researcher Chou Yi-ming (周一銘) said that the research team looked at elementary-school English textbooks from both countries and analyzed vocabulary difficulty and topic distribution using the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP). The findings
RSS