Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would “in principle” call a typhoon day together for Thursday if conditions brought by Typhoon Khanun meet the necessary criteria, city mayors said on Wednesday.
As the storm shifts further west, the chances of winds reaching at least Level 7 on the Beaufort Scale in northern Taiwan have increased to 80 percent in Keelung, 75 percent in Taipei, 72 percent in New Taipei City and 66 percent in Taoyuan, Central Weather Bureau data showed.
The bureau issued a sea alert for Khanun on Tuesday evening and said it does not rule out issuing a land alert, which is expected to be called by 5:30pm on Wednesday if applicable.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Bureau
The cities are closely monitoring the storm’s path and forecasted conditions, and are preparing emergency response teams, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) told reporters at a morning event attended by representatives from the four local governments.
Asked whether they would announce a typhoon day by 8pm, Chiang said the cities would together discuss current conditions and commuting difficulties, placing public safety as the highest priority.
Taoyuan Mayor Simon Chang (張善政) said that although conditions are expected to be better in his city, heavy rain is still expected.
The four cities would “in principle” synchronize their response, he added.
A typhoon day may be called if the radius of a cyclone is to pass through the municipality within four hours, with sustained winds at Level 7 or gusts of Level 10 or higher.
It may also be called if accumulated rainfall is forecast to total at least 350mm over the following 24 hours.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
RSS