Taiwan Makes Final Preparations for Typhoon Soudelor: Rail Service, Ferries Halted; Some Residents Moved Into Shelters

Sean Breslin
Published: August 6,2015

Once the planet's strongest storm of 2015, Typhoon Soudelor has weakened slightly but still poses a major threat to Taiwan, and the island nation is preparing for a direct hit.

Typhoon Soudelor, as seen from the International Space Station on the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015.
(NASA/Kimiya Yui)

The municipal government in the city of Kaohsiung have begun evacuating patients and pregnant women, setting up special shelters in areas likely to be flooded and preparing 13,000 sandbags.
In southeastern Taiwan, ferry operators in Taitung County have announced that services between Fugang Harbor, Green Island and Orchid Island will be suspended Thursday through Sunday. The Taiwan Railways Administration have canceled their holiday cruise-style trains, as they travel through mountainous regions vulnerable to the heavy rains and winds brought on by the typhoon.
The Taipei fire department has advised people to check and secure installations such as display boards, scaffoldings and walls, Focus Taiwan reported. Residents of slopes and low-lying areas are instructed to prepare for flooding and landslides.
Earlier this week, Soudelor underwent rapid intensification and became a super typhoon, the strongest tropical cyclone on Earth so far in 2015. While it's not guaranteed to restrengthen into a super typhoon, it can't be ruled out, according to weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman.
(MORE: Soudelor Causes Major Damage in Saipan)

Causing further strife for residents, the high prices of vegetables often seen prior to typhoons have emerged, increasing the cost - especially for leafy green vegetables - rising by 15 and 45 percent, the report added.
The Water Resources Agency has said it has 881 water pumps on hand, 800 of which will be placed in designated areas and the rest will be allocated as needed, according to a separate Focus Taiwan report. They have also placed 35 detention ponds in areas prone to flooding.
MORE: Typhoon Utor, Aug. 2013