Okinawa, Sasebo keeping an eye on Typhoon Sinlaku

Sinlaku spawned Monday night east of the Philippines, rapidly strengthened into a Category 1-equivalent typhoon and is forecast to make a beeline toward Okinawa by Saturday. It also could hit Sasebo Naval Base, Japan, early next week. Capt. Brandon Alexander of Kadena Air Base’s 18th Wing Weather Flight said Okinawa should expect potential tropical cyclone condition of readiness changes Wednesday morning. Initial forecasts called for Okinawa to experience wind gusts in excess of 80 mph with rain squalls Friday night into Saturday.



Sinlaku is the 15th numbered storm of what’s been an unusually quiet northwest Pacific tropical cyclone season. Not what I expected, Alexander said of the subdued season. At 9 p.m. Tuesday, Sinlaku lurked some 550 miles south-southwest of Okinawa, churning slowly north-northwest at 7 mph.

Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts called for Sinlaku to rumble directly over Kadena Air Base at 2 p.m. Saturday, packing 115 mph winds and 140 mph gusts, equal to a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. If Sinlaku moves as forecast, winds of 30 mph and greater should begin sometime Thursday, Alexander said. As Sinlaku gets closer, Okinawa should brace for winds and gusts of 50 to 80 mph overnight Friday into Saturday, along with heavy rain, Alexander said.



Sasebo Naval Base, in southwestern Kyushu, could be next on Sinlaku’s itinerary. It’s forecast to get within 150 miles southeast of Sasebo at 9 p.m. Sunday, with 75 mph winds and 92 mph gusts as it weakens as it moves northeast. The storm began picking up speed Tuesday afternoon, Alexander said.

That’s bad in terms of being able to prepare adequately … but good in that the duration may be less. A good slam and it may be out. Sinlaku is a Micronesian term for a legendary Kosrae goddess.

_{©Stars and Stripes}

Typhoon hits Taiwan, causing landslides

A typhoon pounded Taiwan on Saturday, bringing torrential rains and triggering landslides in the central and northern part of the island, the national fire agency said. One person was reported injured. At 3 a.m. EDT, typhoon Sinlaku was 90 km (55 miles) east of Ilan on the northeast coast, packing winds of up to 209 kph (130 mph), the island's Central Weather Bureau and local media reported.



Schools and offices in the capital, Taipei, were ordered closed on Saturday. Surrounding areas have faced strong weather warnings since late Friday. Television images showed heavy seas and pouring rain in a coastal part of Hualien, where some trees had been uprooted. Most flights at the island's airports have also been cancelled.



Up to now, we just know one person was injured and we also see some landslides but repair works are under way, an official at the agency told Reuters. The category 3 storm was expected to blanket the island before moving on towards Japan, possibly gathering strength, the Central News Agency and the forecasting website Tropical Storm Risk (www.tropicalstormrisk.com) said.

The Xinhua news agency, meanwhile, said Sinlaku was expected to make landfall in eastern China on Sunday morning, battering the coastal provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang. Taiwan government officials advised people staying away from schools and workplaces to avoid flying debris. The weather bureau said people should stay away from beaches and mudslide-prone mountains.



Sinlaku will be the fourth typhoon to hit Taiwan this year. On July 18, typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 20 people and caused extensive flooding, landslides and crop damage in the south and central part of the island. More...

_©Reuters | Gewijzigd: 1 februari 2017, 14:01 uur, door Joyce.s

Typhoon injures 14, cancels flights in Taiwan

A powerful typhoon packing winds of up to 160 kph (100 mph) hit northeastern Taiwan on Sunday, dumping up to a meter of rain, causing hundreds of mudslides, injuring 14 and forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights. Slow-moving typhoon Sinlaku covered much of Taiwan as its centre grazed the island's northeastern tip on Sunday morning.

It was expected to change direction and move northeast later on Sunday, taking its course toward Okinawa and then on to Japan's major islands. No deaths had been reported but disaster officials said 14 people were hurt in the storm that triggered widespread flooding, isolated traffic accidents, 231,000 power outages, 407 mudslides and 1,127 evacuations.

The amount of time this storm lingered and the level of rain, this time those were pretty severe, said Chris Cheng, a disaster response worker in Ilan County, a mountainous region hit by the typhoon. The most serious problems are flooding and power losses.

Many places in northeast Taiwan had up to 700 mm of rain, with some mountain areas recording up to a meter, according to local media reports which showed numerous images of flooded waterways, cracked roads and uprooted trees. Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said on its website (http://www.cwb.gov.tw) that the storm carried sustained winds of about 125 kmh (80 mp), with gusts up to about 160 kph.

The storm also forced the cancellation of about 20 flights from Taiwan's two major international airports and at least 40 domestic flights from Taipei's local airport on Sunday. More...

_©Reuters

Typhoon leaves 5 dead, 7 missing in Taiwan

Authorities say torrential rains and rivers swollen by Typhoon Sinlaku have killed at least five people and left seven others missing and presumed dead in central Taiwan, as the storm barrels toward Japan.


_{A man tries to rescue a dog from a flooded basketball field along the Ilan River in northeastern Taiwan.}

Taiwan Radio reported late Monday that four cars with an unknown number of passengers are buried in a tunnel hit by a mudslide in central Nantou county. Workers are digging through the debris to rescue those trapped. The Disaster Relief Center says a woman was killed when a resort hotel was buried by mudslides in scenic Lushan in central Taiwan, bringing the total reported death toll to five.

Soldiers and rescuers in Taichung county are searching for five missing people after a section of a 2,000-foot (600-meter) bridge over the Tachia River collapsed Sunday night.

_©CNN

Valt me op dat bij de tyfonen altijd meer prachtige foto's in de nieuwsberichten komen dan bij orkanen in het Caribische of Pacifische gebied. Kan ook aan mij liggen, maar het valt me op.