TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) at 8:30 a.m. on July 28 issued a sea warning for the Bashi Channel as Typhoon Nesat nears, and an alert has been issued for the waters off Taiwan's east and southeast coasts.
As of 8 a.m. this morning, Nesat, the ninth storm to develop in the Pacific this year, was located 540 kilometers southeast of Cape Eluanbi, the southernmost point of Taiwan, moving at a speed of 19 kph in a northwesterly direction, the bureau said.
According to CWB data, the storm was carrying maximum sustained winds of 108 km per hour, with gusts of up to 137 km/h.
At 8:30 a.m. this morning, the CWB issued a sea warning for areas of the Bashi Strait southeast of Taiwan, including Green Island and Orchid Island, while an alert has also been issued for maritime navigation and operations in the seas off the coast of northeastern Taiwan.
As the typhoon gradually closes in on Taiwan, the periphery of the storm will start to generate large waves, strong wind gusts and sudden bursts of rain on the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County, Taiwan's eastern half, and southwestern coastal areas.
CWB senior technical specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that if the typhoon maintains its current path, a land warning will probably be issued by this afternoon or early evening. Wu said the storm is likely to make landfall in Hualien or Taitung in eastern Taiwan tomorrow (July 29) afternoon or evening.
The most obvious affects of the typhoon will be felt starting tomorrow and continue into Monday, when all of Taiwan will experience strong winds and heavy rain. Wu added that Typhoon Nesat will gradually increase in strength, and could become a medium sized typhoon by this evening or early tomorrow morning, reminding the public to take precautions.
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Taiwan suffered flooding, widespread power outages and winds of over a hundred miles and hour as it was battered by its first typhoon of the year on Saturday.
Much of the island came to a standstill, with most train services suspended and as many as 249,230 households without electricity as Typhoon Nesat -- packing gust of up to 180 kilometers (111.8 miles) an hour -- blasted across the country.
The storm made landfall at 1110 GMT in the eastern Yilan county, whipping up massive waves of over 15 meters (49.2 feet).
Taiwan's weather bureau warned of torrential rain in the eastern and southern counties, with the tropical storm expected to dump as much as 900 millimeters (35.4 inches) of water in some areas.
More than 10,000 people had to be evacuated, with 4,564 soldiers deployed for disaster relief.
The southernmost county of Pingtung suffered the worst flooding as of Saturday night, with dozens of residents stranded.
Images showed motorcyclists in the area pushing their vehicles knee-deep in water and others with their homes flooded.
Air travel was also disrupted, a total of 312 domestic and international flights cancelld.
Another impending storm -- Typhoon Haitang -- is also set to threaten Taiwan according to the weather bureau.
Haitang was 420 kilometers (261 miles) southwest of Cape Eluanbi, the southernmost tip of the island, and barreling towards Taiwan.
Although Nesat is Taiwan's first typhoon this year, the island was pounded by heavy rains last month.
At least one person died in June floods in the north of the country, after 600 millimeters of rain fell in under 11 hours in some areas.
Taiwan's government has stepped up preventive measures against tropical storms since typhoon Morakot left more than 400 people dead in its wake in 2009.
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Q1. How do you prepare for a typhoon before it comes ? What experiences/ lessons did you learn from past typhoones?
Q2.What are your pastime activities except sleeping during typhoon holiday?
