BEIJING/TAIPEI – China urged fishing boats to seek shelter and farmers to speed up their harvest while Taiwan suspended annual military drills as Super Typhoon Doksuri spiralled closer to East Asia, potentially reaching deep into China.
Doksuri, nearly 1,000km in diameter, is expected to sweep past lightly populated islands off the northern tip of the Philippines by mid-week while fierce winds and heavy rain lash Taiwan to the north.
Still, the Philippine authorities have already raised storm warning levels in the capital region and dozens of northern provinces, and have begun evacuating some coastal communities in the path of the storm.
Currently packing top wind speeds of 223kmh, Doksuri will make landfall on the Chinese mainland somewhere between Fujian and Guangdong provinces on Friday, China’s National Meteorological Centre said on Tuesday.
While Doksuri is expected to lose some power and land as either a typhoon or severe typhoon, it will still hammer densely populated Chinese cities with torrential rain and strong winds.
Fujian has ordered all offshore fishing boats to find refuge at the nearest port by Wednesday noon, and told farmers to harvest their rice and other crops that have matured.
Hong Kong will suspend some high-speed rail services from Wednesday to Friday between the former British colony and coastal cities on the mainland including Fujian’s Xiamen.
Concerned about autumn grain crops, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs warned on Monday that Doksuri could go deep inland after landing, affecting high-stalk crops such as corn and even rice in rural areas.
After the storm has passed, plots without broken stalks should be straightened quickly and waterlogged fields should be drained in time, with fast-acting fertilisers applied to hasten the recovery of plants, the ministry said.
Taiwan cancelled some of its annual military drills on Tuesday for safety reasons as the authorities stepped up preparations for what they say could be the most damaging typhoon to hit the island in nearly four years.
It was not immediately clear how the typhoon could further impact the five-day Han Kuang exercise, set to take place throughout the island this week, with a focus on defending the island’s main international airport and how to keep sea lanes open in the event of a Chinese blockade.
Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunified, by force if necessary.
Taiwan’s weather bureau issued sea warnings and urged onshore communities to prepare for heavy rain and strong winds.
In the southern port city of Kaohsiung, the authorities were rushing to collect hundreds of containers drifting on the sea after Palau-flagged container ship Angel sank off Taiwan’s south-western coast last week.
“Taiwan has not seen any typhoon making landfall in more than 1,400 days, and that’s why I urge all government ministries that they must gear up and make preparations,” Premier Chen Chien-jen said in a post on Facebook.
“I’d like to remind citizens not to underestimate typhoon threats.” REUTERS
