Northern Taiwan is facing life-threatening conditions as Typhoon Soulik may move into the “super typhoon” category,
meaning winds are whipping up over 150 mph, according to Accuweather.com.
Right now,
The Weather Channel reports, winds are about 145 mph, but the storm may soon catapult into a realm that few storms reach.
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Even if the storm weakens in the next couple of days, Accuweather reported that northern Taiwan will still get hit with winds topping 100 mph, gusting to 120 or 130 mph. The southern Ryukyu Islands and Yilan on Taiwan will be the areas most likely hit, the weather news site said.
But most concerning is its “dead-on” trajectory toward Taipei, Taiwan, The Weather Channel said, which is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Okinawa in Japan also is expected to see some fallout from the storm.
Along with those high winds will come dangerous water levels along the coast, Accuweather said. The water will come in 8 to 16 feet above the area’s normal high tide.
The typhoon is expected to impact China, as well, and the country has
issued a red-level wave warning, according to English.news.cn. Southwest China already is experiencing strong rains that caused bridges to collapse and people to be killed in landslides, the agency reported.
Typhoon Soulik formed July 7, The Weather Channel said, and is the strongest storm of the season so far.
Around the world,
Tropical Storm Chantal weakened in the Atlantic, USA Today reported. There’s still the possibility of flooding in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. People living in shanties in Haiti are especially vulnerable to heavy rains that cause landslides and flooding, the newspaper said.
Earlier, the storm left about 7,000 people in Puerto Rico without power and about 2,500 without water, USA Today said.
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