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Typhoon Megi to stay until Wednesday

Typhoon Megi disrupts traffic between Xindian and Wulai in New Taipei City Tuesday.

Typhoon Megi to stay until Wednesday

Typhoon Megi disrupts traffic between Xindian and Wulai in New Taipei City Tuesday.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As Typhoon Megi lashed most of Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain Tuesday, speculation was mounting as too how late the storm would leave Wednesday.
The eye of the typhoon made landfall near Hualien City at 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, and made its way across the island at a speed of 16 kilometers per hour. By 4 p.m., it had moved 50 km west of Hualien.
All of Taiwan’s main island saw offices and schools close Tuesday, with some local governments in parts of the south only ordering closures during the afternoon.
The island of Kinmen close to the coast of China’s Fujian Province said its schools and offices would be closed on Wednesday as the storm was expected to cross the Taiwan Straits during the morning.
Sustained winds reached 155 kph, with gusts of up to 191 kph.
However, weather experts predicted that even on Wednesday morning, winds would still be strong enough in 17 cities and counties to warrant the closure of schools and offices, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported.
That did not automatically mean that the local governments in charge would still order such a measure, the report added.
The areas still facing the storm winds between 6 a.m. and noon Wednesday included the Taipei region as well as the offshore islands in the Taiwan Straits. Only Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli on the west coast and Nantou County in Central Taiwan would see wind force gradually weaken, reports said.
During Tuesday afternoon, the Central Weather Bureau repeatedly revised its estimates for expected wind force and amounts of rain upward.
Over 2 million households nationwide had lost electricity Tuesday, with the Taipei area cutting the water supply to some areas as a preventive measure.
Flights, trains, high-speed trains and even some Mass Rapid Transit services above the ground in Taipei were cancelled. Taipei and Taichung also suspended bus service.