"Residents in the Hengchun Peninsula and Taitung area should heighten their vigilance against torrential rains and strong winds," an official of the Central Weather Bureau said.

The storm is expected to bear down on the southern part of Taiwan Monday.

With a radius of 150 kilometers (90 miles), the storm was moving north-northwest at a speed of 10 kilometers (6.0 miles) per hour but it was losing momentum as the direction of its movement was veering northwest.

At 9:00 am (0100 GMT), Storm Melor was 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Oluanpi, the southernmost tip of the island.

TERRA.WIRE