Residents in central and southern Taiwan should beware of extremely heavy rain brought by Tropical Storm Lupit, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday, despite lifting a sea warning for the storm.
Bureau forecaster Lo Ya-yin (羅雅尹) said that Lupit remained a tropical storm after making landfall in China’s Guangdong Province at noon yesterday.
As of 5:30pm, its center was 120km northwest of Kinmen County, she said.
Photo: CNA
Its radius had shrunk to 60km as it traveled northeast at 6kph, she added.
Lo forecast that Lupit would affect China’s Fujian Province before crossing back into the East China Sea on the weekend.
The bureau would continue to closely monitor the storm to determine whether it would affect the weather in Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of Animal Rescue Team Taiwan
“Should the storm weaken significantly while moving over land, it would likely have little effect on the weather in Taiwan proper. However, should it regain strength when it returns to moving over the ocean, it could significantly affect the weather on the west coast,” she said.
Although Lupit might be downgraded to a tropical depression, it might still cause large waves in the Taiwan Strait, Bashi Channel and the Pacific off Taiwan’s southeast coast, Lo said.
Strong winds are expected in central and southern Taiwan, as well as in the offshore counties of Kinmen, Lienchiang and Penghu, she said.
From 12am to 7pm, the bureau’s observation station in Pingtung County’s Chunrih Township (春日) measured 237.56mm of accumulated rainfall, the highest in the nation over that period. The second-highest accumulated rainfall was measured in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), with 236.5mm.
Although the bureau forecast that rains in the north and east would ease today, showers would continue in central and southern Taiwan due to southwesterly winds, Lo said, adding that short bursts of extremely heavy rain might cause flooding.
Meanwhile, six ferry routes between Taiwan proper and outlying islands would be suspended today due to the storm, including those between Keelung and Matsu, Kaohsiung and Penghu, and Taitung and the Green Island (綠島), the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday.
Separately, the Council of Agriculture said that agricultural losses due to typhoon damage so far this year exceed NT$113 million (US$4.07 million), with farmers in central and southern Taiwan incurring the majority of losses.
Farmers in Yunlin County posted the most losses, totaling NT$41 million, followed by Tainan with losses of NT$22 million and Chaiyi County with NT$20 million, council data showed.
SCENARIOS: A potential conflict with Beijing would not be similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China would target energy and food supplies, a researcher said China is likely to continue using economic and cyberoperations against Taiwan to force it to capitulate without resorting to a military attack, Fox News reported yesterday, citing the outcome of a tabletop exercise. Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) earlier this month held a tabletop exercise in Taipei focusing on Beijing’s use of economic and cybercoercion against Taiwan. The FDD mentioned an “anaconda strategy,” in which Beijing would likely use cyberwarfare and disinformation campaigns followed by a blockade or other measures to strangulate Taiwan, rather than attempting an invasion, the report said. A large-scale cyberattack would be
China sent 50 military planes and vessels to the vicinity of Taiwan in the 24 hours starting at 6am on Friday, while President William Lai (賴清德) was visiting Kinmen for the first time since taking office in May to mark the 66th anniversary of the 823 Artillery Bombardment. Flight paths released yesterday by the Ministry of National Defense showed that 38 military aircraft were detected in Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the highest number recorded in recent weeks. The figure included 32 that crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or its extension. Of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft
HSINCHU CASES: Five people among 35 who were reported being sick were still in hospital after eating at a vendor in a market in Jhubei, the local health agency said Thirty-five people have sought medical treatment for acute symptoms after allegedly eating banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) from a vendor in Jhubei City (竹北), the Hsinchu County Public Health Bureau said yesterday. The bureau said that since Saturday, it has received several reports of suspected food poisoning from hospitals. The vendor has been ordered to temporarily suspend its business, it said, adding that tests were being conducted to determine whether the people had food poisoning, with results expected in about two weeks. A preliminary investigation showed that the people who sought treatment had recently eaten banh mi at a vendor at a retail market
GOOD MODEL: Speaking at his book launch, Law said that Taiwan is the most democratic Chinese-speaking country, which is why Hong Kongers relocated here China has suffocated Hong Kong’s civil society and its next target could be Taiwan, Nathan Law (羅冠聰), cofounder of the disbanded pro-democracy Hong Kong political party Demosisto, said in Taipei yesterday. Law made the remarks at a launch in Taipei for his book When the Wind Blows — the Struggles for Freedom of Hong Kong (時代推著我們前行:羅冠聰的香港備忘錄). Law has been living in the UK since he fled Hong Kong in 2020, and the book is about his fighting for the cause of freedom in the area. He was granted political asylum in 2021. “Fleeing is a long and distressing process, but it also