TOTAL COVERAGE: Champi’s outer band is expected to blanket the entire nation, with the center coming closest tonight or tomorrow before leaving tomorrow evening
By Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with CNA
School and work across most of the nation has been canceled today, as Typhoon Champi is expected to skirt the northeast edge of Taiwan proper.
As of 9pm, all municipalities except for Kinmen County had announced cancelations.
Taitung County said schools and offices would be closed on Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), but not the rest of the county.
Typhoon Champi is pictured in a satellite image yesterday.
Photo courtesy of NCDR Watch
The announcements came after the Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday expanded its land warning for Champi to 19 regions across Taiwan proper.
While the storm has weakened to a moderate typhoon, direct landfall could not be ruled out, it said.
As of 5pm yesterday, Champi was about 450km east of Taiwan’s southernmost point of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), moving northwest turning north-northwest at 18kph, CWA data showed.
Large waves crash against a lighthouse on the eastern breakwater at the Port of Hualien yesterday.
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Taipei Times
It was packing maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts of up to 198kph, with a storm radius of 320km, the agency said.
The storm’s radius remained broad, and as the Pacific high-pressure system weakens, Champi’s movement is expected to slow down today and tomorrow, CWA Weather Forecast Center Deputy Director Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said.
The typhoon could move erratically as it interacts with Taiwan’s terrain, with its center projected to pass within 80km of the coast, although landfall remains possible, Wu said.
Restaurants are shuttered at Pier 5 in Taipei’s Dadaocheng area yesterday.
Photo: CNA
The storm’s outer band is expected to blanket the entire nation this morning, with the center coming closest between tonight and early tomorrow morning, she said.
The storm circle is forecast to leave Taiwan proper by tomorrow evening, and Champi is expected to weaken after moving into waters east of Hualien County, Wu said, adding that the land warning might be expanded to include Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties.
Coastal winds are to intensify early this morning, with waves of more than 10m possible through tomorrow afternoon, she said.
Rainfall was to increase from last night, with the heaviest downpours expected from today through tomorrow morning, she added.
Mountainous areas in northern and northeastern Taiwan could receive 600mm to 900mm of rain through tomorrow, the CWA said.
The agency forecast continuous, widespread showers for northern and northeastern regions today, warning of localized heavy or extremely heavy rain, particularly in northern mountainous areas.
Central and eastern regions are to see localized brief showers, with heavy rain possible in the mountains of Taichung and Hualien County, while the south and southeast could expect sporadic showers, it said.
Widespread showers and localized heavy rain are to persist in the north tomorrow, with brief localized showers in the east and central mountains, the agency said.
As tomorrow is the start of a three-day Retrocession Day weekend, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday urged the public to stay away from creeks, beaches and mountainous areas, even after Champi has left Taiwan.
National Fire Agency Chief Secretary Cheng Chih-chiang (鄭志強) said the agency had asked the Hualien County Government to evacuate residents living downstream of the Wanli Creek (萬里溪) landslide dam.
As of yesterday morning, the landslide dam was holding 5 million tonnes of water, posing a potential disaster risk, Cho said earlier at a Cabinet meeting.
Earlier yesterday, a free diver in his 20s died after apparently being swept out to sea by a strong rip current off Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) in Pingtung County, the Coast Guard Administration said.
At 2:25pm, more than two hours after the search began, divers aboard a recreational boat found the diver drifting off Beauty Cave (美人洞).