Typhoon Parma threatens Taiwan

October 4, 2009

The Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan issued a typhoon warning on Sunday, as Typhoon Parma entered the Bashish Channel between the Philippines and Taiwan.

According to the bureau, the storm's winds reached 119 kilometres per hour (kph) and had gusts of up to 155 kph, and was expected to bring torrential rains. As of 06.00 UTC, Parma was centered 310 kilometres south of Taiwan's southernmost point, Oluanpi.

The storm's speed had slowed upon reaching the Bashish Channel, the bureau added, from 7 kph to 5 kph.

1800 people have been evacuated, some of them forcibly, from remote rural mountainous areas, after the weather bureau made its warning.

An official with the bureau told the Agence France-Presse news agency that "the typhoon is forecast to move along the (northern) track until Monday night and then turn southwest. In the next two to three days, the typhoon may move slowly and hover around the Bashi Channel, and after that, how it moves needs further observation."

Earlier this week, Typhoon Parma had passed over the Philippines, killing fifteen people and flooding northern parts of the country.