People in eastern China are bracing themselves for super typhoon
Sepat which is expected to hit Taiwan on Friday evening, before
crossing the Taiwan Strait to Fujian Province on the mainland,
according to local meteorological forecasts.
The latest forecast at 2:00 p.m. on Friday indicated that the
eye of the typhoon was 290 kilometers southeast of Taiwan, packing
winds of up to 184 km per hour, and Sepat was moving northwestward
at 20 km per hour toward Taiwan, local media reported.
Winds were reaching force 16, according to the forecast. Winds
exceeding force 12 can be described as a strong typhoon.
Sepat showed its power on Friday afternoon as eastern Taiwan saw
increasingly strong rain and winds, it said, adding the rain would
increase on Friday evening.
The diameter of the typhoon would reach 500 km, covering an area
even larger than Taiwan, putting the entire island in great danger,
it said.
The local meteorological department issued an alarm on Thursday
evening, saying winds would gain strength up to force 17 on Friday
and Saturday on the island, and the total rainfall in the eastern
mountainous area, the first part of the island affected, would
reach 800 to 1,000 mm.
It could land in Fujian on Saturday evening or Sunday morning,
bringing strong winds and torrential rains.
Sepat, which formed early on Monday east of Luzon Island in the
Philippines, became a super typhoon at around 8:00 p.m. on
Wednesday. Named after a Malaysian freshwater fish, it is the ninth
tropical storm to hit the region this year.
South China's Guangdong Province and east China's Zhejiang
Province are also closely monitoring the progress of Sepat and
recalling vessels to harbor.
(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2007)
