Taiwan issues sea warning for 'Chedeng'

Weather officials in Taiwan on Friday issued a sea warning for typhoon "Songda" ("Chedeng" in the Philippines), which continued to move north and approached the Bashi Channel off southeastern Taiwan.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said "Chedeng/Songda" was 530 kilometers (km) southeast of Eluanbi as of 8:00 a.m., Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

CWB particularly warned ships sailing or operating in the areas to heighten their alerts, the CNA report said.

Philippine officials earlier said "Chedeng/Songda" will continue moving north in the direction of Taiwan then head for Southern Japan, exiting Philippine territory early Sunday.

The CNA report quoted the CWB as saying "Chedeng/Songda" was moving north-northeast at 21 kilometers per hour (kph), and packed maximum sustained winds of 198 kph and gusts of up to 252 kph.

It said the CWB warned that with "Songda" gradually approaching the Bashi Channel, waters off Taiwan's southeast and northeast coasts and in the vicinity of Green Island and Orchid Island, will come under the influence of the typhoon.

Aside from issuing a typhoon sea warning, the bureau also said residents in eastern Taiwan and mountainous regions in the north should be on guard for possible downpours because the cloud systems on the outer rim of the storm could bring heavy or torrential rains to those areas.

The Taitung County government opened a typhoon response center Friday in preparation for possible precipitation from the typhoon.

The county government also announced the suspension of ferry services between the eastern Taiwan county and the outlying Green Island and Orchid Island for two days from Friday.

More than 1,000 people intending to visit Green Island were forced to cancel their travel plans.

However, the CNA report said no changes to schedules for flights between Taitung and Green Island/Orchid Island were reported. - VVP, GMA News