8 August 2009 / AP, BATOHZI, TAIWAN
A major typhoon surged toward Taiwan on Friday, closing offices and schools, disrupting transportation, and confining millions of residents to their homes as its violent western fringe lashed the island with high winds and heavy rains.
Late on Friday morning, the Central Weather Bureau placed the center of Typhoon Morakot about 100 miles (170 kilometers) south of Taiwan's eastern county of Yilan. It said it was packing winds of 90 miles per hour (145 kilometers per hour) and moving west at a speed of 7 mph (12 kph). The bureau said the storm was expected to make landfall in eastern Taiwan Friday evening assuming it maintains its present course. It is expected to pass directly through the densely populated north, including the capital of Taipei. Schools and businesses throughout Taiwan were closed Friday. Authorities canceled many flights from Taipei to Asian destinations and all domestic flights departing from the capital, and suspended the operations of the island's state-of-the-art high speed railroad. In the tumbledown northeastern port of Batohzi, huge waves pummeled the rocky coastline and dozens of fishing vessels bided their time behind the protection of a breakwater, waiting for the storm to pass.
