Posted on 07/24/2024 6:45:42 PM PDT by texas booster
Taiwan hunkered down on Wednesday for the arrival of a strengthening Typhoon Gaemi, with financial markets shut, flights cancelled and one person killed, while the military went on standby amid torrential rain.
Gaemi, expected to be the strongest storm to hit Taiwan in eight years, is set to make landfall on the northeast coast late on Wednesday evening, weather authorities said.
They upgraded its status to a strong typhoon, packing gusts of up to 227 kph (141 mph) near its center.
After crossing the Taiwan Strait, it is likely to hit the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian late on Thursday afternoon.
One person died, crushed by a falling tree, in the southern city of Kaohsiung, the fire department said. It also reported another 58 people were injured.
"The next 24 hours will present a very severe challenge," Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai told a televised meeting of the emergency response center.
In rural Yilan county, where the typhoon will first hit land, wind and rain gathered strength, shutting eateries as most roads emptied out.
"This could be the biggest typhoon in recent years," fishing boat captain Hung Chun told Reuters, adding that Yilan's harbor of Suao was packed with boats seeking shelter.
"It's charging directly towards the east coast and if it makes landfall here, the damage would be enormous."
Work and school were suspended across Taiwan, with streets almost deserted in the capital Taipei.
The government said more than 4,000 people had been evacuated from sparsely populated mountain areas at high risk of landslides from the "extremely torrential rain".
Almost all domestic flights had been cancelled, along with 227 international flights, the transport ministry said.
(Excerpt) Read more at asia.nikkei.com ...
However, TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple, said it expected its factories to maintain normal production during the typhoon, after it activated routine preparations.
Japanese media said the typhoon also cancelled all flights departing from and arriving at Miyako and Ishigaki in Japan's Okinawa prefecture, which lies in the storm's path.
The typhoon is expected to bring rain of up to 1,800 mm (70 inches) to some mountainous counties in central and southern Taiwan, weather officials said.
Taiwan's defense ministry said it had put 29,000 soldiers on standby for disaster relief efforts.
The typhoon has severely curtailed this year's annual Han Kuang war games, but they have not been cancelled, with scheduled live fire drills held on the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday.
Gaemi is expected to bring heavy to very intense rains over vast swathes of China from Thursday, the water resources ministry warned.
The rains are expected to last until July 31, fueled by the typhoon's abundant moisture, it added.
Gaemi and a southwest monsoon brought heavy rain on Wednesday to the Philippine capital region and northern provinces, bringing work and schools to a halt, with stock and foreign exchange trading suspended. The storm killed 12 people.
While typhoons can be very destructive, Taiwan relies on them to replenish reservoirs after traditionally drier winters, especially in its south.
140 mph winds? That’ll do some damage.
YT videos are already of showing Gaemi damaging facades on many buildings in Taipei.
This after pummeling the Philippines and before it hits China, already having troubles with rain.
Will that be a direct hit on the Three Gorges dam?
Chinese weather forecasters said Gaemi will pass through Fujian and head inland, gradually moving northward with less intensity. But weather forecasters are expecting heavy rain in many areas as it tracks north.
Government officials have already prepared for a stretch of heavy rain and flooding — raising advisories and warnings in the coastal provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang.
Meanwhile, north China is experiencing heavy rain from summer storms around a separate weather system. Officials in capital Beijing upgraded and issued a red warning late on the night of July 24 for torrential rain expected through most of July 25, according to Chinese state media.
The Beijing Fangshan District Meteorological Observatory expects that by 10am, many parts of the city will have more than 150mm of rainfall in six hours, and in some other areas more than 200mm in 24 hours, state television reported.
150 mm to 200 mm is about 6" to 8" of rain. Not much compared to Gulf hurricanes, but a lot for them.
And China already has a lot of rain in July, and gets a lot in August.
No, but Three Gorges Dam and watershed already has an above normal (for their rainy season).
This will flood a part of China that does not get near as much rain as upstream from the Three Gorges area.
No
I was hunkered down in a perimeter command bunker, by myself, for a couple of days during a typhoon in Vietnam back in 1970.
sounded light a freight train...winds were ridiculous.
I’ve come to learn that a hurricane and typhoon are essentially the same, that the name defines geography.
So i wont be moving to any hurricane state any time soon.
It had occurred to me at one point, that a natural disaster
might give the mainland a foot in the door if Taiwan needed
disaster relief. If damage was widespread, Taiwan might
need quite a bit of help.
Perhaps it would just deal with it like any other nation,
and appeal to the U. S. for help.
Just curious…
What was the construction materials used for the bunker - earthen, concrete, lots of sandbags, corrugated metal for the roof?
Thanks for your service.
So far it has been pretty mild here in SanXia ( just south of Taipei).
I think they are thinking what I am; Will Taiwan be invaded during this cyclone while us ships can’t move.
That radar summary doesn’t look pretty mild.
I am very glad that you are mostly safe.
No. No organized ship movements are possible and certainly no air ops are possible. Also, the typhoon will pass right through Fujian province, which would be the staging area for any invasion force.
Got nothing but light rain and some gusty winds. Had heavier rains and winds last week in just a regular storm. Seems like whenever it passed over my area it was in the green. Down in the south western part -Kaohsiung- they have heavy flooding.
armies specialize in the impossible. Hannibal going over the alps
bunkers were wood and sandbags no metal.
I wasn’t about to climb into the tower...wood and corrugated roof.
thanks. you are welcome
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