Tropical Storm Nock-ten is expected to cause a substantial amount of damage if it hits northern or southern -- rather than central -- Taiwan, government statistics showed.
According to a study made available by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, the path a tropical storm or typhoon will take when affecting Taiwan can be placed in one of 9 categories.
Among them, Category I -- which skirts the island in the north, Category II -- which passes through northern Taiwan and moves west or northwestward and Category IV -- which sweeps through southern Taiwan and moves west or northwestward are recorded as having caused the most agricultural losses over the past decade.
The reason is that such paths circumvent the Central Mountain Range, which serves as an efficient deterrent in breaking the power of the storm system.
Category I storms have included Herb in July 1996 and Aere in August. Herb caused over NT$14.7 billion in agricultural losses, while Aere induced about NT$1.7 billion.
Category II includes Toraji in July 2001, Tim in July 1994, Bilis in August 2000 and Amber in August 1997. Agricultural loses for Toraji were reported at more than NT$8 billion, Tim about NT$3.7 billion, Bilis nearly NT$7 billion and Amber about NT$2.5 billion.
Category IV includes Zangsane in October 2000, Zeb in October 1998 and Doug in August 1994. While the agricultural losses caused by Zangsane were recorded at NT$4.9 billion, those caused by Zeb were about NT$6.2 billion and Doug over NT$3.4 billion.
Typhoon Nari, which lingered over the Taiwan Strait between Sept. 6 and Sept. 19 in 2001, was classified as Category VII -- which comes from the Bashi Channel in the south and gradually cruises northward on the sea.
Its 14-day stay dumped about 1,257mm of rain on some northern areas over 51 hours and took 84 lives nationwide. The agricultural industry suffered losses worth NT$4.9 billion.
Taipei was hardest hit -- 26 people were killed and the city's mass rapid transit (MRT) took six months of repairs to become fully operational.
There were 52 tropical storms or typhoons that affected Taiwan over the past 10 years, accounting for 66.7 percent of the nation's total natural disasters.
Those causing the number dead or missing to exceed 100 include Toraji in July 2001 (214 people) and Nari in September 2001 (104 people).
These were followed by Zangsane in October 2000 (89), Herb in July 1996 (73), Winnine in August 1997 (45) and Mindulle in June this year (41).
Herb tops the list of causing the most agricultural losses -- recorded at over NT$14.7 billion.
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