TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei City, New Taipei City, Keelung City, Yilan County, Hualien County and Taitung County announced their offices and schools would remain closed Sunday (Sept. 12) as Typhoon Chanthu was expected to make its way north along the east coast during the day.
Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) had already predicted earlier Saturday (Sept. 11) that a typhoon day off was highly likely in their areas.
The Directorate-General of Personnel Administration is the government body in charge of listing typhoon holiday announcements per area on its website.
However, areas along the west coast from Taoyuan City in the north to Pingtung County in the south, and including the mountainous central county of Nantou, said predictions for the typhoon in their areas were not sufficient to allow for a day off Sunday, CNA reported. The only exceptions were five mountainous districts in Kaohsiung City with a history of landslides during typhoons. Liugui, Jiaxian, Maolin, Taoyuan and Namaxia were keeping their offices and schools closed all through Sunday.
By 8 p.m. Saturday, the eye of the storm was situated over the Pacific Ocean 100 kilometers east of Taiwan’s southern tip, the Central Weather Bureau said. The typhoon was moving north at a speed of 20 km per hour.
While forecasters said they could not entirely exclude the storm making landfall, it was more likely to pursue a course parallel with Taiwan’s east coast. By early Sunday afternoon, it was expected to reach the area east of Yilan County.
A land and sea warning was in effect for all of Taiwan’s main island and for all the waters surrounding it. Extremely heavy rain was predicted for the east coast counties of Taitung, Hualien and Yilan as well as for the Hengchun Peninsula in Pingtung County.
