TYPHOON SAUDEL APPROACHES JAPAN, TAIWAN
Meanwhile, medium-strength Typhoon Saudel moved towards southern Japan and northern Taiwan where it is expected to bring sporadic heavy rain, as Taiwan reported one dead and four missing from a separate weather system over its south and east.
Japan’s weather agency warned of destructive gusts as Typhoon Saudel approached the southwestern islands of Okinawa prefecture, also causing extremely strong winds and high seas.
Saudel is expected to pass to the north of Taiwan and dump water on its north starting late Thursday and into Friday, though its intensity is forecast to gradually weaken and its storm-force wind radius to shrink, the island’s Central Weather Administration said.
However, there is uncertainty about the timing and extent of the typhoon’s rainfall impact, it added.
In southern and eastern Taiwan, the government reported one person dead and four missing from a tropical depression that brought flooding in the cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, home to more than 4 million people.
During the three days from Sunday to Tuesday, almost a metre of rain fell in Kaohsiung, which the government said exceeded rainfall during 2009’s devastating Typhoon Morakot that killed about 700 people and caused damage of up to US$3 billion.
Saudel is forecast to hit the coast in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian from late Thursday to early Friday.
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