Saturday, September 13, 2008

Tyfoon treft Taiwan...( CNN)

Typhoon Sinlaku dumps rain on Taiwan

At 0300 GMT Sinlaku was 556 kilometers west-southwest of Naha, Okinawa

Weather bureau: Storm sustaining winds near the center at 173 km/h

Sinlaku to push into northern sections of Taiwan over the next 24 hours
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(CNN) -- Typhoon Sinlaku was moving slowly toward the northern shores of Taiwan on Saturday, promising to dump heavy rain on on the region as it crawls north.

At 11 a.m. Saturday (0300 GMT), Sinlaku was 345 miles (556 kilometers) west-southwest of Naha, Okinawa, one of Japan's most southern islands, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said the storm was moving west-northwest at 4.3 miles (7 km) an hour, with maximum sustained winds near the center at 107 miles (173km) an hour.

"The winds have died down a little bit, so it's not as strong as the recent typhoons we've seen, but it's moving very, very slowly so it's going to have longer to batter whatever land it hits," CNN Forecaster Jenny Harrison said.

"The slower it's moving, the longer it sits there, and the more rain the region will see."

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said Sinlaku would push into northern sections of Taiwan over the next 24 hours, probably late Saturday night or early Sunday morning.