- Title: TAIWAN: Warnings of mid-strength typhoon
- Date: 7th August 2009
- Summary: TAIPEI, TAIWAN (AUGUST 6, 2009) (REUTERS) TAIPEI STREETS IN TORRENTIAL RAIN LANDMARK TAIPEI 101 BUILDING BARELY VISIBLE AMID LOW CLOUDS CITY HALL BUILDING VARIOUS OF SECURITY GUARD BOARDING UP BUILDING ENTRANCE BUILDING ENTRANCE PARTIALLY BOARDED UP PEOPLE WALKING IN STREETS, CARRYING UMBRELLAS TAPED-UP GLASS DOORS OF STORE ENTRANCE SANDBAGS BESIDE ENTRANCE DOOR VARIOUS OF STAFF PUTTING TAPE ON WINDOWS VARIOUS OF CARS WITH HEADLIGHTS ON, PEOPLE WITH UMBRELLAS IN RAINY STREETS MAN SELLING UMBRELLAS ON STREET CARS WITH HEADLIGHTS DRIVING ON RAINY STREETS
- Embargoed: 22nd August 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Weather
- Reuters ID: LVA1BDX5FZX0VDMESPSEBXVLL1FJ
- Story Text: Taiwan's weather bureau issued land and sea warnings on Thursday (August 6) for a mid-strength typhoon, the most severe so far this year, with heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 173 kph (107 mph) expected overnight before the storm heads to China.
Typhoon Morakot, centred 430 km ( 267 miles) southeast of Taiwan at 1000 GMT, was expected to reach northern Taiwan by early Friday with sustained winds of up to 137 kph (85 mph), the Central Weather Bureau said on its website.
In the capital on Thursday, heavy rain and low cloud cover led to poor visibility for car drivers and some of Taipei's tallest buildings were barely visible. Others were being boarded up and windows taped to prepare for the storm.
Morakot will grow to a category four typhoon, on a 1-5 scale, early on Friday, passing directly over the island's capital Taipei before reaching southeast China by Saturday at a weaker category two, said forecasting website Tropical Storm Risk.
Typhoons regularly hit China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan in the second half of the year, gathering strength from the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean or South China Sea before weakening over land. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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