Taipei, Sept 07: The edge of Typhoon Sinlaku brushed northern Taiwan today, dumping rain that led 1,500 people to evacuate villages vulnerable to flash floods and landslides. One woman was missing but no major damage was reported.
Taiwan escaped serious destruction early today because the eye of the storm - packing winds of 145 kph was passing 230 km northeast of the capital, Taipei, said Lee Hsiang-Yuan, a central weather bureau forecaster.
The storm also increased speed to between 19 kph and 23 kph, twice as fast as it was moving yesterday. This minimised the risk that it would linger over Taiwan and drench the island with dangerous amounts of rain, the bureau said.
But Lee warned, "There was still a chance the brunt of the storm would dump heavier rains and bring stronger winds."
Forecasters predicted that Sinlaku would continue to lumber westward and hit China's southeastern port of Mawei in Fujian province by tomorrow morning.
Last year, typhoon Nari ravaged Taipei and caught residents and officials off guard. This time, extra efforts were made to evacuate people and stack sandbags to protect against flooding.
Bureau Report
