Taiwan braces for Typhoon Gaemi; Mailiao port closed

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Taiwan is bracing for the arrival of Typhoon Gaemi, which is expected to make a landfall northeast of the island on Wednesday evening.

Financial markets are closed, as well as offices in most cities and counties on Wednesday as the northeastern region is being pelted by heavy rains.

At 10:15 local time (02:15 GMT), Gaemi was located around 90 kilometers (km) west of Taipei and 180 kilometers southeast of Yilan County, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA).

Gaemi was packing maximum winds of 162 kilometers per hour near its center.

Source: Google Maps

In the northwest, Mailiao port, which primarily serves the Mailiao petrochemical complex, has been closed since early 23 July and will remain closed until 06:00 local time on 26 July, according to a shipping source.

Taiwan’s major petrochemical complexes are in Toufen and Mailiao in the northwest; and Ta-sheh and Linyuan in Kaohsiung City in the south.

The capital of Taipei, along with its neighboring cities of New Taipei, Keelung, and Taoyuan, will be closing schools and offices on Wednesday.

Typhoon warning is currently in effect over Nantou, Chiayi, Chiayi City, Keelung City, Yilan, Pingtung, Changhua, New Taipei City, Hsinchu, Hsinchu City, Taoyuan City, Penghu, Taichung City, Taipei City, Tainan City, Taitung, Hualien, Miaoli, Yunlin, Lienchiang, and Kaohsiung City.

In the Philippines, heavy rains since early Wednesday triggered widespread flooding in Metro Manila, prompting suspension of financial market operations.

The typhoon did not make landfall in the southeast Asian country but was enhancing a southwest monsoon resulting in heavy-to-intense downpour in the northern regions, its state weather agency said.

The typhoon will likely move across the Taiwan Strait after making a landfall and hit Fujian province in southeastern China in the late afternoon of 26 July.

China’s National Meteorological Center (NMC) on Wednesday issued an orange alert for Typhoon Gaemi, which is expected to bring strong wind and heavy rain to the country’s southern regions.

After landfall, Gaemi is likely to weaken into a tropical storm as it tracks north northwestward over Fujian province late on 25-26 July.

It would weaken further into a tropical depression and then dissipate as it moves over Jiangxi province late on 26-27 July, and into southeastern Hubei province on 27 July, according to NMC.