HUALIEN – Financial markets will close and people given the day off work as Typhoon Gaemi barrelled towards Taiwan on July 23, bringing strong winds and torrential rain, with the annual Han Kuang war games curtailed and emergency equipment readied.
Gaemi, the first typhoon of the season to affect Taiwan, is expected to make landfall on the north-east coast some time between the night of July 24 and the early hours of July 25, according to the island’s Central Weather Administration.
Currently categorised as a medium strength typhoon by Taiwan, it is then likely to move across the Taiwan Strait and then hit the south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian on July 26.
Capital Taipei, as well as the neighbouring cities of New Taipei, Keelung and Taoyuan, will close schools and give people the day off on July 24, with the financial markets also closed.
“Tomorrow, please stay at home,” Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an wrote on his Facebook page. “Gaemi, the first typhoon to make landfall this year, continues to strengthen.”
However, TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expected all its factories would maintain normal production during the typhoon, adding it had activated routine preparation procedures.
Some mountainous central and southern Taiwan counties are expected to see total rainfall of up to 1,800mm during the typhoon, the weather administration said.
The Taiwan government put more than 1,000 rubber boats on standby for possible flooding across the island, which will see the storm coincide with the annual high tides, and rushed emergency food, water and communications equipment to remote areas.
Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang military drills taking place this week have been curtailed, including cancelling fighter jet exercises on the east coast, the defence ministry said.
“The impact from the typhoon at present on the east coast is rather obvious,” ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang told reporters at the Hualien airbase. “So we will adjust some of the air and naval elements, given the typhoon situation.”
Taiwan’s transport ministry said all ferries to Green Island and Orchid Island, which lie off the south-east coast, were cancelled on July 23.
Mandarin Airlines and Daily Air cancelled all domestic flights for July 24, while Eva Air announced at least 12 international flights were cancelled for the same day.
Gaemi passed by to the east of the Philippines but did not make landfall, though it still brought heavy rain.
While typhoons can be highly destructive, Taiwan also relies on them to replenish reservoirs after the traditionally drier winter months, especially for the southern part of the island. REUTERS
Source link : https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/taiwan-curtails-annual-war-games-as-typhoon-gaemi-barrels-towards-island
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Publish date : 2024-07-23 00:20:00
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