Taiwan last night was on edge waiting for Typhoon Longwang, which was expected to hit the island early this morning.
With gusts up to 227km/h, Longwang had created surging waves in the seas off the eastern coastal county of Hualien and the northeastern county of Ilan.
By yesterday afternoon, Longwang was centred in the Pacific Ocean about 350km east of Taiwan and was heading northwest at a speed of 25km/h. The storm is likely to cut a path across the island from east to west today and move in the direction of Fujian province tomorrow.
'Winds and torrential rains will grow stronger by midnight and the entire island is expected to be under the influence of Longwang, which is the fourth powerful typhoon to affect Taiwan so far this year,' a spokesman for the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
All residents, especially those in eastern and northern Taiwan, had been urged to take precautions to brace for the typhoon, he said.
The possible impact of the typhoon prompted Cathay Pacific to suspend five of today's Hong Kong-bound flights from Taipei.
Taiwan-based China Airlines and other international airlines also decided to postpone or suspend their flights from Taipei today.
