Taiwan braces for powerful Typhoon Champi as flights cancelled

Typhoon Champi, with wind speeds of 213 kph, is expected to sweep past Taiwan's northeast coast, affecting Taiwan, China, and Japan.

The storm will cause heavy rain and giant waves, with 23,000 military personnel on standby for rescue efforts, and over 150 flights cancelled.

Champi is part of an active storm season intensified by El Nino, predicted to bring severe weather impacts until 2027.

TAIPEI, Oct 22 — A powerful typhoon headed towards Taiwan on Thursday, triggering the cancellation of dozens of flights and prompting warnings for locals to prepare for heavy rain, strong winds and giant waves.

Typhoon Champi is expected to sweep past Taiwan’s northeast coast on Friday and Saturday as it moves towards China and Japan, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.

Champi is packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 213 kilometres (132 miles) per hour, according to the latest update from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

It was previously classed as a super typhoon, with reported maximum sustained wind speeds of nearly 300 kph, but it has since weakened.

“Everyone is urged to remain vigilant and be prepared for the strong winds and heavy rains brought by the typhoon,” Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said in a Facebook post.

Champi is the latest in a busy Pacific storm season turbo-charged by the El Nino weather phenomenon that has caused unprecedented warming in the equatorial Pacific.

The storm is expected to dump up to 900 millimetres (35 inches) of rain in the mountainous regions of northern and northeastern Taiwan from Thursday to Saturday, and whip up waves more than six metres (20 foot) tall.

More than 23,000 military personnel are on standby to help with rescue efforts. Over 150 domestic and international flights were cancelled for Thursday ahead of the storm.

“Typhoon Champi is expected to have its most significant impact starting all day tomorrow through the first half of Saturday,” CWA forecaster Jason Cheng told AFP.

“Currently, the typhoon has a storm radius of 320 kilometres... Compared to the previous Typhoon Bavi, Champi’s storm area is not as vast,” Cheng said.

Millions of people in eastern China also braced for torrential downpours and flash flooding in the coming days.

China’s Ministry of Water Resources initiated a level four emergency response on Thursday for flooding in Shanghai and the coastal provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian.

Level four is the lowest in China’s emergency response hierarchy.

The ministry warned that Champi could bring “a period of significant rainfall” from Friday to Sunday, with “heavy to torrential downpours” expected in some areas, including “most of Shanghai and eastern Zhejiang”.

Japan’s two major airlines cancelled more than 110 flights from Thursday to Saturday.

The United Nations said Wednesday that the El Nino gripping the planet is heading off the charts, and that countries should take urgent action to prepare for the worst.

El Nino is expected to peak in December, but the human impact is set to last into 2027 and beyond.

The warming phase of a natural climate cycle, El Nino temporarily raises sea temperatures in the tropical Pacific, triggering changes in weather that can increase the risk of drought and flooding, and exacerbate man-made global warming. — AFP

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预计风速达 213 公里/小时的台风“占比”将席卷台湾东北沿海地区，影响台湾、中国大陆和日本。

这场风暴将带来强降雨和巨浪，23000名军人待命进行救援工作，超过150个航班被取消。

昌皮飓风正处于活跃的风暴季中，受厄尔尼诺现象的影响，预计这种风暴季将持续到 2027 年，并带来严重的天气影响。

台北，10月22日讯——周四，一股强劲的台风逼近台湾，导致数十个航班取消，并促使当地居民做好应对暴雨、强风和巨浪的准备。

台湾中央气象局表示，台风“占比”预计将于周五和周六掠过台湾东北沿海地区，并向中国大陆和日本方向移动。

根据联合台风警报中心的最新消息，台风“占比”的最大持续风速为每小时 213 公里（132 英里）。

它之前被归类为超级台风，据报道最大持续风速接近每小时 300 公里，但此后强度有所减弱。

“呼吁所有人保持警惕，做好应对台风带来的强风暴雨的准备。”台湾总统赖清德在脸书上发帖说。

昌皮是太平洋繁忙风暴季中的最新一起风暴，而厄尔尼诺现象加剧了这一风暴季，导致赤道太平洋地区前所未有的变暖。

预计从周四到周六，这场风暴将给台湾北部和东北部的山区带来高达 900 毫米（35 英寸）的降雨，并掀起超过 6 米（20 英尺）高的巨浪。

超过23000名军人待命，随时准备参与救援工作。受风暴影响，周四有超过150个国内和国际航班被取消。

“预计台风‘占比’将从明天全天到周六上半天造成最严重的影响，”中央气象局预报员郑杰森告诉法新社。

“目前，台风‘占比’的风暴半径为320公里……与之前的台风‘巴威’相比，‘占比’的风暴范围没有那么大，”程说。

中国东部数百万民众也严阵以待，准备应对未来几天的暴雨和山洪暴发。

周四，中国水利部对上海及江苏、浙江、福建等沿海省份的洪涝灾害启动了四级应急响应。

在中国应急响应体系中，四级是最低级。

该部警告称，从周五到周日，台风“占比大雨”可能带来“一段明显降雨期”，部分地区，包括“上海大部分地区和浙江东部”，预计将出现“大到暴雨”。

日本两大航空公司从周四到周六取消了超过110个航班。

联合国周三表示，席卷全球的厄尔尼诺现象正愈演愈烈，各国应采取紧急行动，为最坏的情况做好准备。

厄尔尼诺现象预计将在 12 月达到高峰，但其对人类的影响将持续到 2027 年及以后。

厄尔尼诺现象是自然气候周期中的变暖阶段，它会暂时升高热带太平洋的海水温度，引发气候变化，增加干旱和洪涝灾害的风险，并加剧人为造成的全球变暖。——法新社

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