ReliefWeb

• USAGI (named “ODETTE” in the Philippines) has become a powerful Typhoon, heading NW towards Batanes islands (Philippines). At 06:00 UTC 20 Sep, it had a max sust. wind speed of 249 km/h and its center was located ca. 270 km ESE of Basco (Batanes islands, Philippines).

FORECAST

• According to 06:00 UTC 20 Sep data, its center is forecast to pass very close/over the Batanes islands later on 20 Sep and S of the southern tip of Taiwan on 21 Sep, roughly keeping its strength. Later, it is forecast to move towards Guangdong (China) and Hong Kong, slightly weakening, and it might approach these areas on 22 Sep.

• Philippines: Public Storm Warning Signals (PSWS) from #1 to #4 were in effect (see map). Very strong winds and heavy rains might affect these areas. JRC calculations indicate a possible storm surge of 0.4-0.8m for the Batanes on 20 Sep evening (UTC).

• Taiwan: a Typhoon Warning and “Heavy” to “Extremely Torrential” Rain Advisories were in effect for parts of Taiwan, alerting against strong winds in the south and heavy to extremely torrential rain in several areas.

• Hong Kong, Guangdong and S Fujian (China): according to the 20 Sep 06:00 UTC data, heavy rains and strong winds might affect parts of these areas on 22-23 Sep. JRC calculations, using as input the data of 20 Sep 06:00 UTC, indicate a possible storm surge of the order of 1.5-2.1 m in the coastal area near Yantian (SE of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province) and in parts of Hong Kong region, for 22 Sep afternoon (UTC), (see map). (*) Track/intensity uncertainty is still high, these heights might still change.

• As of early 20 Sep, a Yellow Typhoon Warning was in effect (Chinese Meteorological Centre).