Two storms collide with coasts by Dan Corbett
Typhoon Haitang over the Pacific and Hurricane Emily in the Gulf of Mexico have moved ashore and begun to unleash their devastating power on the land and the people.
THE PACIFIC STORM
The Pacific Ocean has spawned a powerful typhoon, named Haitang which has been progressively moving its way westwards over the last few days. This morning it has been homing its way into the island of Taiwan, where winds are already gusting to 136mph, wreaking havoc and sparked warnings of flash flooding and landslides. The centre of the typhoon was still some 30 miles southeast at 7am BST on Monday morning, although expected to make landfall a few hours later. The Central Weather Bureau has said “Haitang is the most powerful typhoon to hit Taiwan over the past five years.”
FEARS
Massive waves are preparing to smash the coasts as it tracks its way closer to Taiwan. This has raised concerns that the waves could lash the coasts and create severe flooding. Many residents have already evacuated the coastal area under threat.
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled from Chiang Kai-shek airport in the Taipei and piles of sandbags have been placed around offices and homes.
The tallest skyscraper in the world, Taipei 100 has been put on a high alert as the building was expected to face its biggest test from the winds since it was completed in 2004. The building is expected to survive the ferocious storm, being installed with wind dampeners and a 680 tonne steel ball to minimise the swaying effects from the wind.
THE ATLANTIC STORM
Hurricane Emily has slammed her way into the Cancun district of Mexico with winds of 135mph, pounding popular tourist resorts. Thousands of tourists were crammed into local gymnasiums and schools as their hotels were battered.
Many Mexicans feared a repeat of Hurricane Gilbert, which tore apart Cancun in 1988 killing hundreds and destroying many homes. Emily killed 4 people when a car was swept away in floods in Jamaica on Sunday. Two pilots were also killed in Mexico as their helicopter was blown by a gust of wind during the evacuation of oil rigs in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
Emily is expected to weaken as she crosses the Yucatan Peninsula later on Monday, but could strengthen again once she heads back out over the warmer water of the Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane is then expected to track towards southern Texas.
At 7am BST, Emily was rated as an ‘extremely dangerous’ category 4 on the five-step Safir scale. Forecaster have warned of heavy rain and flooding along with dangerous waves that could smash the coastal areas.
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