Precautionary evacuations ordered in mountainous New Taipei districts

Taipei, July 10 (CNA) New Taipei Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) on Friday morning ordered precautionary evacuations in mountainous areas at risk of landslides, including Wulai District, as Typhoon Bavi approached Taiwan.

Hou issued the order at the city's disaster response center, where officials said the probability of slope failure in Wulai was estimated at over 90 percent.

The mayor instructed district offices to complete the evacuations by 6 p.m. Friday.

Hou said cumulative rainfall from Friday evening through Saturday afternoon was expected to exceed 500 millimeters in mountainous areas and along New Taipei's northern coast.

Wulai faces a particularly high risk of landslides, while Sanxia District is at "moderate-to-high" risk, Hou said.

Pinglin, Shiding, Xindian, Xizhi and Shenkeng districts have also been placed under landslide alerts, he added.

As of 1 p.m. Friday, the eye of Typhoon Bavi was located about 650 kilometers east of Eluanbi, Taiwan's southernmost point, and was moving northwest at 26 kilometers per hour, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 162 kph, with gusts of up to 198 kph, and had a wind radius of 380 kilometers, the CWA said.

From 2 p.m. Friday to 2 p.m. Saturday, mountainous areas of New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County and Miaoli County were forecast to receive accumulated rainfall of 400-600 mm.

The CWA forecast rainfall of 300-450 mm in Yilan County, 250-450 mm in Taichung and 200-400 mm in Taipei over the same period.