Typhoon Jangmi to hit east Taiwan this afternoon

The typhoon is projected to hit Taiwan’s eastern and southeastern coasts early Sunday, and residents of the eastern counties of Hualien and Taitung and the outlying Green Island and Orchid Island are advised to take proper precautions against the imminent storm, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.

Ships operating in the Bashih Channel and waters southeast and northeast of Taiwan should also be extra cautious, the bureau said.

At 8:00 p.m., Jangmi was centered 370 kilometers east of Oluanpi — Taiwan’s southern-most tip, moving northwest-west at a speed of 17 kilometers per hour.

The eye of the typhoon is expected to reach a position 140 km east-southeast of Eluanpi at 11 a.m. Sunday, with the system’s 280-km radius covering most of Taiwan by then, the data showed. The CWB predicted that all of Taiwan will be covered by Jangmi on Monday.

According to Wu Teh-jung, director of the CWB’s weather forecast center, the combined effect of the northeast monsoon and the typhoon is likely to cause heavy rainfall in Taiwan over the next few days.

On Sunday and Monday, extremely heavy rain or torrential rain — 24-hour accumulated rainfall exceeding 130 mm or 200 mm, respectively — is expected around Taiwan, Wu said.

In the mountainous areas of the country, the rainfall is likely to hit 500 to 600 mm in the mountainous areas of the eastern Taiwan in 24 hours, as well as 300mm to 350 mm in the mountainous areas of western Taiwan.

In terms of aggregate rainfall, the figure is expected to hit 1,000mm to 1,100mm in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan, and 800mm to 900 mm in mountainous areas of central and southern Taiwan.

The government is gearing up efforts to counter the possible disasters caused by the strong typhoon. President Ma Ying-jeou, for instance, yesterday canceled his originally scheduled tour of Kaohsiung stadium construction, and, instead, visited the central disaster-countering center to learn the preparations being made by various government units against the impact of Typhoon Jangmi.

Ma instructed local governments to block dangerous bridges sooner to prevent people and cars from falling into rivers, although the blocking would inconveniences to local people.

Vanessa Shih, Minister of the Government Information Office, said yesterday that the government will follow a set of stricter criteria governing the blocking of bridges, and she called for people to not to go out lest they should suffer from the torrential falls and strong winds brought by Typhoon Jangmi.

The Directorate General of Highways under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has sent specialists to closely watch, around the clock, the conditions of 13 most dangerous bridges around the island, and will immediately block the bridges if necessary.

The water and oil reservation bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday also issued “yellow warning” against mudslides in 85 places in mountainous areas.

In related news, the average wholesale vegetable price in Taipei yesterday surged 15 percent from Friday to NT$35.4 per kilogram, although the daily vegetable supply witnessed an increase from Friday.

Market sources attributed the price rise to the approaching of powerful typhoon Jangmi.

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