Weather Alert: Typhoon Soudelor threatens China and Taiwan
Typhoon Soudelor has rapidly intensified to a Category 5 hurricane, threatening eastern China, Japan and Taiwan from Friday, after leaving a trail of destruction in the Northern Marianas islands.  Even if Soudelor begins to weaken prior to reaching Taiwan, it is still expected to be a significant typhoon, though it is hoped that Soudelor will weaken considerably if it takes a direct path over Taiwan's rugged terrain.
AccuWeather has reported that Typhoon Soudelor “rapidly intensified on Monday, becoming a super typhoon and reaching the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic or Eastern Pacific basins.”

AccuWeather said the storm “reached peak intensity late Monday with winds near 290 kph (180 mph) making it the strongest tropical cyclone anywhere on the planet this year.”

In addition the report said “Super Typhoon Soudelor will remain a powerful tropical cyclone as it crosses the West Pacific, eventually threatening Taiwan and eastern China later this week.

“The center of Soudelor passed directly over the island of Saipan, to the north of Guam with Category 2 hurricane-force winds on Sunday night.

“Winds to near 170 kph (105 mph) were reported on Saipan as the eyewall of Soudelor passed over the island. Guam to the south was largely spared any damaging winds as gusts reached 50-65 kph (30-40 mph) for several hours.

Source: AccuWeather

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters China