Taiwan curtails war games as Typhoon Gaemi barrels towards island

[July 23, 2024]  By Walid Berrazeg

HUALIEN, Taiwan (Reuters) -Taiwan curtailed its annual Han Kuang war games and readied emergency equipment on Tuesday as Typhoon Gaemi barrelled towards the island, with the government issuing a land warning given the expected strong winds and torrential rain.

Gaemi, the first typhoon of the season to affect Taiwan, is expected to make landfall on the northeast coast between sometime on Wednesday night and the early hours of Thursday, according to the island's Central Weather Administration.

Currently categorised as a medium strength typhoon by Taiwan, it is then likely to move across the Taiwan Strait and then hit the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian in the early hours of Friday.

Taiwan's government issued a land warning for the typhoon, centred on Taiwan's north, east and northeast, meaning that is where it is most likely to make landfall.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said it expected all its factories would maintain normal production during the typhoon, adding it had activated routine preparation procedures.

Some mountainous central and southern Taiwan counties are expected to see total rainfall of up to 1,800 mm (70 inches) during the typhoon, the weather administration said.

The government put more than 1,000 rubber boats on standby for possible flooding across the island, which will see the storm coincide with the annual high tides, and rushed emergency food, water and communications equipment to remote areas.

Taiwan's annual Han Kuang military drills taking place this week have been curtailed, including cancelling fighter jet exercises on the east coast, the defence ministry said.

A supermarket window is seen taped up to prepare for typhoon Gaemi which is expected to make landfall on Wednesday night in Taipei, Taiwan July 23, 2024. REUTERS/Yimou Lee

"The impact from the typhoon at present on the east coast is rather obvious," ministry spokesman Sun Li-fang told reporters at the Hualien air base. "So we will adjust some of the air and naval elements given the typhoon situation."

Taiwan's transport ministry said all ferries to Green Island and Orchid Island, which lie off the southeast coast, were cancelled on Tuesday. Domestic carrier Daily Air cancelled its flights to both islands for Wednesday.

The ministry reported no disruption to international services yet, but said it would be restricting arrivals and departures at Taiwan's largest airport at Taoyuan outside of Taipei.

Cities across Taiwan could also declare a typhoon holiday, which would shut financial markets, schools and offices, should they judge the risk from the bad weather to be severe.

Gaemi passed by to the east of the Philippines but did not make landfall, though still brought heavy rain.

While typhoons can be highly destructive, Taiwan also relies on them to replenish reservoirs after the traditionally drier winter months, especially for the southern part of the island.

(Reporting by Walid Berrazeg; Additional reporting by Yimou Lee, and Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry, William Maclean)

[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.