A flag warning about rough seas is pictured next to a beach in Suao, Yilan county, as Typhoon Lekima approaches off the shores of eastern Taiwan on Aug 8, 2019. (SAM YEH / AFP)
TAIPEI — Taiwan braced for Typhoon Bailu on Friday, prompting cancellations of domestic flights amid warnings of floods and high seas on the island.
After passing over Taiwan, the typhoon is expected to cross the Taiwan Straits and hit the Fujian province
Typhoon Bailu, categorised at the weakest typhoon level by Taiwan's weather bureau, was expected to approach off the island's southeastern coast early on Saturday. It was moving across the ocean in a northwesterly direction at 24 km per hour, weather officials said.
Bailu was carrying maximum winds of 126 km per hour as it approaches Taiwan, the weather bureau said, adding that the storm could gain in strength and become the first typhoon to make landfall on the island in more than two years.
READ MORE: Flights canceled as Taiwan battens down for super typhoon
Thousands of people were moved to safety, most of them tourists on islands off the east coast, while dozens of domestic flights and ferry services were cancelled. Some 34,000 soldiers were deployed in the south amid fears of floods.
The bureau issued wind and rain warnings for southeastern Taiwan, and other southern counties were expected to be included in the warnings later in the day. It also put out a warning to seafarers.
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After passing over Taiwan, the typhoon is expected to cross the Taiwan Straits and hit the Fujian province, forecasters said.
Typhoons regularly hit Taiwan, Chinese mainland, the Philippines and Japan in the second half of the year, gathering strength from the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean or South China Sea.
Typhoon Morakot devastated the island in 2009, killing nearly 700 people, most of them in landslides.
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