Typhoon Mawar lashes Taiwan’s coast, heads towards southern Japan
Typhoon Mawar battered Taiwan’s eastern coast with strong winds, heavy rains, and large waves today, causing residents in the fishing town of Yilan to secure their boats and homes. Despite losing some of its strength since hitting Guam last week, the slow-moving typhoon remained dangerous with maximum sustained winds of 155 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 190 kilometres per hour. As the storm moved towards southern Japan, officials in the Philippines and Taiwan warned of the risks posed by dangerous tidal surges, flash floods, landslides, and typhoon-enhanced monsoon rains.
Juliet Cataluna, a Batanes provincial official in the coastal town of Ivana, said…
“I’m on the roof, but I’m not being blown away by the wind. I wish we’ll really be spared from damages, our livelihood, our agricultural produce and our houses.”
After earlier forecasts predicted a stronger typhoon, Ivana residents placed sandbags on their tin roofs and covered glass windows with wooden boards.
The typhoon was located about 350 kilometres east of the Batanes capital, Basco, and was expected to shift northeast by Wednesday toward southern Japan. Strong winds were still forecast for Taiwan, and authorities in the Philippines warned against complacency until Mawar had safely passed.
More than 3,400 villagers remained in emergency shelters in northern provinces, flights to and from Batanes were suspended, and classes were cancelled in over 250 cities and towns in the north, according to the Office of Civil Defence. Winds also lashed nearby Cagayan province, causing an unoccupied wharf warehouse to collapse and prompting more villagers to move to evacuation centres.
Last week, Mawar tore through Guam as the strongest typhoon to hit the US Pacific territory in over two decades, flipping cars, tearing off roofs, and knocking down power lines. According to the US National Weather Service, the typhoon carried winds reaching 225 kilometres per hour and produced waves surging to a height of 9 meters.
