A strong storm is spinning across the sea toward Taiwan, bringing the threat of powerful winds and heavy rains.
Typhoon Dujuan is forecast to hit Taiwan’s east coast on Monday evening. As of Monday afternoon, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 231 kph (144 mph), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
The current forecast track calls for the storm to pass just south of Taiwan’s capital city of Taipei, home to 2.7 million people.
But it was expected to weaken somewhat before making landfall as the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane, according to CNN meteorologist Guy Michael.
Taiwan weather authorities issued a sea warning as the storm approached, telling people in coastal areas to beware of rogue waves, the island’s Central News Agency reported.
Before it reaches Taiwan, Dujuan will brush past Japan’s small, thinly populated Yaeyama Islands.
Taiwan was thumped last month by Typhoon Soudelor, a fierce storm that moved on to wreak havoc on the Chinese mainland. Soudelor killed at least seven people in Taiwan and at least 26 in mainland China.
Dujuan is also expected to later head across the Taiwan Strait and strike the coast of the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian on Tuesday.
By that stage, its winds are likely to have lost a significant amount of their force, but torrential rains will still pose a risk in the densely populated region.
“It’s not only a wind maker, this is a rain maker,” said CNN weather anchor Derek Van Dam.