Offshore Typhoon Mawar lashes eastern Taiwan, northern Philippines as it heads for southern Japan

YILAN, Taiwan: Typhoon Mawar lashed Taiwan’s eastern coast with wind, rains and large waves on Tuesday (May 30) but largely skirted the island after giving a glancing blow to the northern Philippines. The storm was moving slowly toward southern Japan.

With waves crashing on the shoreline, residents of the Taiwanese fishing town of Yilan secured boats and homes against the stormy conditions.

Although the slow-moving typhoon has lost some of its ferocity since smashing into Guam last week, forecasters in the Philippines said Mawar remained dangerous with maximum sustained winds of 155kmh and gusts of up to 190kmh.

“I’m on the roof, but I’m not being blown away by the wind,” Juliet Cataluna, a Batanes provincial official in the coastal town of Ivana told The Associated Press by cellphone. “I wish we’ll really be spared from damages, our livelihood, our agricultural produce and our houses.”

After seeing earlier forecasts that Mawar would be stronger, townspeople in Ivana placed sandbags on their tin roofs and covered glass windows with wooden boards. Cataluna added that she wrapped her avocados with sack cloth so they would not be blown off trees.

Town leaders used motorcycles to deliver constant typhoon updates and fortunately only light rains and occasional wind gusts have hit Ivana, she said.