Typhoon

From the Central Weather Bureau web site at http://www.cwb.gov.tw/eng/index.htm, here is the typhoon's projected path:

Winds are incredibly strong, from yeterday evening through now. Yeye says it will hit around 8 p.m. tonight.

From Fox News at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,537760,00.html:

Taiwan Braces for Major Typhoon 'Morakot'
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Aug. 6
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwanese braced for the arrival of a major typhoon Friday as local governments closed businesses and schools and airlines canceled scores of flights.
The center of Typhoon Morakot was about 137 miles southeast of Taiwan's eastern county of Yilan, packing winds of 89 mph and moving west at a speed of 9 mph as of 7:15 a.m. Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said.
If Typhoon Morakot sustains its course, it will make landfall in eastern Taiwan on Friday night, it said.
Schools and businesses throughout the island were closed Friday. Some international flights to and from Japan and Hong Kong were canceled. All domestic flights departing from Taipei were also canceled.
Morakot will be the first typhoon to hit Taiwan this year. Typhoons frequently move in between July and September often causing casualties in mountainous regions that are prone to landslides and flash floods.

From CNN at http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/weather/08/06/typhoon.morakot.taiwan/index.html

Typhoon Morakot nears Taiwan

(CNN) -- Typhoon Morakot bore down on Taiwan Friday, packing 89 mph (143 kph) winds and threatening to soak the entire island when it makes landfall Saturday morning, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said.

As of 10 a.m. Friday (2 a.m. GMT), wind gusts were reaching 112 mph, and Morakot, a medium-strength typhoon, was moving west-northwest at 14 mph en route to landfall, the agency said.
Already, mudslides and landslides were occurring on the land, as airlines canceled flights, and government offices, schools and the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed for the day, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency.
The storm was centered about 124 miles (200 km) southeast of Taipei and could wind up directly over the capital, said CNN meteorologist Kevin Corriveau.
He predicted its impact would be massive. "This storm has already dumped about 400 millimeters (16 inches) of rain in the central and southern part of the island, and they're still expecting another 500 (20 inches) to 800 millimeters (32 inches) of rain over the next 24 to 48 hours," he said. Watch how the storm is affecting life on the island »
Drought in recent months has severely affected the area, leaving the ground so hard that it cannot absorb the rainfall, Corriveau said.
However, the island tends to prepare well for typhoons, Corriveau added. "They take it very seriously," Corriveau said. "Just like Cuba is very good at handling hurricanes, Taiwan is very good at handling typhoons."
On Thursday, Taiwanese Premier Liu Chao-shiuan examined the island's emergency operation center and asked all personnel to stay on high alert over the next day, with the typhoon forecast to "affect all regions of Taiwan," according to CNA
Taiwan and eastern China are particularly vulnerable to flash flooding and mudslides because of the proximity of the mountains to the sea.
Once it hits land, Morakot is expected to weaken to tropical storm strength, the Central Weather Bureau reported.