Typhoon chaser James Reynolds shot the video above from the east coast of Taiwan.
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The outer rim of the storm, classified as a medium typhoon, the second on the CWB’s three-tier system, touched land in Eastern Taiwan at around 5 p.m. yesterday. Residents are strongly urged to seek shelter during the height of the storm to protect themselves against flying debris as widespread structural and tree damage ensues.
Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau said that by mid-morning Saturday, it was packing maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometers (100 miles) per hour and was moving at a speed of 19 kph (12 mph) in a northwesterly direction in Yunlin county on the west coast.
The Associated Press reports flash flooding has left seven people dead, including four children, and two others missing.
By Saturday morning Tatung Township in eastern Yilan had seen the most rain, with more than a metre (40 inches) falling since Thursday.
Fishing boats and workers wait in the shelter of Yilan’s harbor as Typhoon Soudelor approaches eastern Taiwan.
The storm could start weakening, forecasters said, but warned against wind gusts reaching some 150 kph and extreme rainfall – an accumulation of 350 millimeters or more in 24 hours – across Taiwan.
The students say new textbooks being shipped to high schools ahead of classes beginning at the end of the month unduly emphasize the role of China in Taiwan’s history.
For now, Soudelor has weakened from was what considered a super typhoon to the equivalent of a category 3 hurricane, but the Japan Meteorological Agency is predicting that it will strengthen once again late on Thursday.
At its peak on Monday, the unsafe typhoon had wind gusts of up to 290 kilometres per hour.
Soudelor walloped the Northern Mariana Islands earlier within the week, knocking out water and energy to Saipan.
The wind and rain will also take away the heat in some southern parts of China starting Friday, the NMC said. The center of Taiwan is a very mountainous area, allowing for a high risk of landslides.
After Taiwan, Soudelor will churn across the sea to mainland China.
Almost 5,000 people in southeast China’s Fujian Province have been evacuated as Typhoon Soudelor, the 13th this year, is expected to hit the province on Saturday.
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Radar image of Typhoon Soudelor approaching the island nation on August 7, 2015.
