The China Post
Date: September 18, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

Agricultural loss caused by Typhoon Meranti on Taiwan have been estimated at nearly NT$800 million,

a report said Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Air Force apologized for failing to provide meals to its servicemen dispatched to a village in the mountains of Hualien to help with prevention work against typhoon-triggered disasters last week.

Meranti, which ravaged Southern Taiwan on Tuesday, damaged over NT$460 million worth of crops in Kaohsiung alone, the United Evening News reported, citing the city’s Agriculture Bureau.

The city’s guava farms sustained heavy damage, with losses estimated at more than NT$200 million, the bureau said, adding that jujube farms were hit with losses estimated at over NT$90 million.

n Pingtung, aquaculture farms were also hit hard by Meranti. In some cases, power outages caused failures to life-support systems for grouper ponds, resulting in losses of more than NT$14 million from fish deaths, according to Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Haung Hung-yan.     [FULL  STORY]

DELAYS:Taoyuan Airport said that 12,800 passengers were affected by delays due to the typhoon, which only accounts for about 11.9% of the total daily airport traffic

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 18, 2016
By: Staff Writer, with CNA

Taiwan proper and the nation’s outlying islands are expected to be out of the storm circle of Typhoon

Malakas by 4am and 11am respectively today, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.

Land and sea warnings for Malakas are expected to be lifted this morning, the bureau said.

At 8pm yesterday, Malakas was centered about 150km east-northeast of Taipei, moving at 5kph north-northeast, data from the bureau showed.

It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph, with gusts reaching 198kph, the bureau said.

There had been no reports of injury as of press time last night.

A total of 2,788 people in New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Yilan and Hualien counties were evacuated as a precautionary measure, the Central Emergency Operation Center said.

The bureau maintained torrential rain alerts for mountain areas in New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Hsinchu and Miaoli counties.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-17
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – While Typhoon Malakas was making slow progress off Taiwan’s east coast

Saturday, Chiayi County in Southern Taiwan suffered some of the heaviest torrential rain.

Residents of Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Yilan and Hualien had the day off because forecasters had predicted most of the havoc caused by the storm would happen there, but Saturday morning the places with the highest rainfall were mostly situated in Chiayi County, according to Central Weather Bureau data.

The town of Zhuqi recorded 208 millimeters of rain over 12 hours leading up to around Saturday noon, the data showed. Fenqihu in the same area posted 207 mm and Alishan Elementary School near the Alishan park 200 mm. Both locations are popular destinations which, if no typhoon had appeared, would have been crowded with tourists during the four-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

Landslides led to the authorities closing down the popular Alishan railway line, which connects the park with Chiayi City.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/17
By: Christie Chen, Wang Yang-yu and Chen Wei-ting

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) Over 2,600 residents in four counties and cities in Taiwan were evacuated to

safety on Saturday, while some railway lines and flights have suspended service in anticipation of the threat from Typhoon Malakas.

As of 8 a.m. Saturday, 2,658 people from New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Yilan County and Hualien County have been evacuated to safety as a precautionary measure, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center.

Meanwhile, Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said it has suspended all services on its Pingxi Line and Shen’ao Line Saturday, as well as services on its North Link Line and Yilan Line around the northeastern part of Taiwan until 6 p.m. that day.

After 6 p.m., North Link Line and Yilan Line, which serve stations from Badu in Keelung to Hualien, will gradually resume normal operations depending on the rain and wind condition, TRA said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/17

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) The Central Weather Bureau issued new land and sea warnings for Typhoon

Malakas early Saturday, saying the effect of the storm will be most acutely felt from late morning until this evening.

Northern and northeastern Taiwan and are expected to see strong winds and torrential rain later in the day, the weather bureau said, despite the fact that there were few signs of a storm in the Taipei region overnight and early Saturday.

As of 5:00 a.m., the center of Malakas was located some 200 kilometers to the southeast of Yilan, moving in a northerly direction at a speed of 18 kilometers per hour, slowing to 14 kph, the bureau said.

It had moved at a slower pace than previously predicted, delaying the time when its worst effects are felt.

Malakas is not expected to make landfall in Taiwan but will instead turn northeast after its peripery sweeps past the northern part of the island.      [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-16
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – More than 30 houses in the Taitung County village of Hongye were buried under rubble Friday after the passage of Typhoon Meranti.

Most residents had been evacuated from the mountainous area before the storm struck Wednesday, but returned home Saturday to find that landslides had buried about 30 to 40 houses in the village, which is famous for its contribution to Taiwan’s baseball history.

The typhoon brought heavy torrential rain and strong winds to most of southern Taiwan Wednesday and Thursday, inflicting severe damage on agriculture, infrastructure and buildings. While Friday started out sunny, land warnings were already in effect for Typhoon Malakas, which was also expected to pass close to Taitung County.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 17, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Residents in Northern and Eastern Taiwan are being warned to

brace for the effects of Typhoon Malakas, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Friday.

The moderate typhoon is expected to sweep past Taiwan without making landfall, with the storm’s outer rim brushing the eastern coastline early Saturday.

Areas projected to be impacted are: Yilan, Hualien, Taitung (including Orchid Island and Green Island), Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli and Taichung.

The CWB has also forecast torrential rain for these areas, especially in mountainous regions of Taipei, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Nantou, Yunlin and Chiayi.

The CWB warned that heavy rainfall over the past week may have left the aforementioned areas vulnerable to landslides.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/16
By: Chen Wei-ting and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Sept. 16 (CNA) The northern Taiwan cities of Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung and Hualien County in eastern Taiwan have announced that they will close schools and offices on Saturday in anticipation of rough weather from Typhoon Malakas.

The announcements came after Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan said earlier Friday that it would close schools and offices on Saturday to keep people indoors and safe from the storm.

As of 9:36 p.m., all other cities and counties in the country have declared that schools and offices will remain open Saturday, according to Directorate-General of Personnel Administration data.

The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Typhoon Malakas will begin to affect Taiwan late Friday night, with the storm’s outer periphery expected to reach Hualien and Taitung counties in the early hours of Saturday.     [FULL  STORY]