TEMPO.CO, Taipei - Typhoon Dujuan picked up strength Sunday as it headed toward Taiwan, prompting warnings of strong winds and torrential rain.
As of 5:30 p.m. local time, Dujuan was centered 500 kilometers east-southeast of Hualien, moving west-northwest at 14 kph, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 184 kph.
The typhoon is expected to make landfall in northern Taiwan on Monday evening after affecting Japan's southern Ryukyu islands. The weather bureau issued a land warning, advising people in northern and eastern Taiwan to be prepared for heavy rain.
Dujuan was then forecast to move across the Taiwan Strait and strike China's southeastern Fujian Province on Tuesday morning.
Many schools and offices in Taiwan were already scheduled to be closed on Monday, the last day of an extended weekend celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The approaching storm led to the cancelation of Monday's concert in Taipei by Bon Jovi, the first of two concerts by the American rock band that is performing in Taiwan for the first time in 20 years, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.
AP
