Super typhoon has nation on alert
Print Edition
TAIWAN and China’s mainland began battening down the hatches yesterday ahead of the arrival of Super Typhoon Nepartak, the first of the year, with fears in the mainland that storms could worsen already severe flooding in the east of the country.
The typhoon was expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s mountainous but sparsely populated east coast early today, where it will lose much of its strength, before crossing over the Taiwan Strait and hitting the mainland tomorrow.
It has been labeled a category 5 storm on a scale of 1 to 5 by Tropical Storm Risk making it a super typhoon but should drop to a tropical storm by the time it reaches the mainland.
In Taiwan, authorities announced financial markets would be shut today as cities across the island, including Taipei, announced work and school closures. Airlines began canceling flights and the bullet train service was suspended.
The island’s weather authorities estimated wind speeds near Nepartak’s center were at least 200 kilometers per hour.
Restaurant owner Chen Mang-ning said he had to put a lock on the rolling door of his establishment to protect the windows from strong wind.
“Yes, I am worried about it, same as everyone here,” said fisherman Chen Chun-po.
Hong Kong’s two biggest airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair, said they were canceling flights to and from Taiwan scheduled from last night to this afternoon as the storm bore down on the island.
Across the Luzon Strait, in the northern tip of the Philippines, authorities raised storm alerts in Batanes, about 700 kilometers north of Manila, and outlying islands in a sparsely populated region.
In November 2013, Typhoon Haiyan struck the central Philippines with ferocious power, leaving more than 7,300 people dead and missing and displacing more than 5 million others after leveling entire villages.
Widespread flooding across eastern and southern China over the past week has killed about 130 people, damaged more than 1.9 million hectares of crops and led to direct economic losses of more than 38 billion yuan (US$5.70 billion).
The city of Wuhan on the Yangtze River, home to 10 million people, has been particularly badly affected, with flooded subway lines and power cuts.
The typhoon is expected to push more rain into already flooded areas in and around Wuhan, Xinhua news agency said.
Wuhan is a hub for the auto industry, though automakers including Honda, Nissan and state-owned Dongfeng reported no disruptions.
Peugeot’s venture there said it launched emergency contingency plans, including deploying a sewage pump truck, but factory operations were uninterrupted and its vehicle warehouse unaffected.
Fujian Province, opposite Taiwan, has canceled all ferries to Taiwan and suspended some trains, while Guangdong Province has told fishing boats to return to port.
Typhoons are common at this time of year in the South China Sea. They used to kill many people in China but the government now enforces evacuations and makes preparations well in advance, meaning death tolls in recent years have been much lower.
In 2009, Typhoon Morakot cut a wide path of destruction over southern Taiwan, killing about 700 people.
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