Seems to be moving at a pretty slow pace and definitely has the potential to cause landslides in pingdong, and even here if this keeps up all night.

Wind is still going in fits and bursts, but rain has become more sustained in last few hours.

Rainfall. Interesting that the highest totals come from different pockets in different counties stretching all the way from pingdong to illan.

A far better tourist attraction was a roadside stop a bit further south. Enormous, awe inspiring waves - like having a front row seat in a 3D disaster movie. Was the only one there this morning, but when i returned with a couple of tourists i'd met earlier, there were 4-5 cars there. Think i will go back again and open a Chinese sausage stand.

Checked out Miramar - waves were crashing up against the swimming pool but not going through the hotel when i was there, which was 9am, high tide. However, there did seem to be significant erosion taking place in front of the hotel and i suspect it is gonna have a kind of teetering look when the water recedes.

Most dangerous place in Taiwan would seem to be the southern tip of the east coast. Radar has that getting pummeled with virtual eye-wall wind and rain at the moment. Would expect some serious damage reports coming out of kending area.

Usagi now has sustained winds of up to 140 knots. Guess I'll put the lawn chairs away... and the washing machine.

In SC, the big rain came on the Sat night, Oct 16, just before it entered PPE. Torrential rain for 5-6 hours – about 200 ml.
Five days later, as the typhoon was stalled between PPE and China, Ilan was clobbered with 947 ml of rain in a day, 2500ml + over that five day period. This was caused by broken off blobs from the typhoon colliding with the north east monsoon resulting in torrential downpours. This is probably what they mean when they say autumn typhoons are the most dangerous.

Previously I had thought the dbjf to be a typhoon killer, due to the cross winds interfering with its structure, but it seems an interaction with the outer bands can also cause tremendous rainfall.

Not surprisingly, the Su-Ao to Hualien highway was a total disaster zone – two buses went over the edge and 450 people were stranded. So far 25 people are confirmed dead."

This current typhoon bears some similarities to Megi, a massive late season typhoon from 2010. The scary bit is that Usagi is a lot closer! On the positive side, it doesn't have that wicked poleward outflow that Megi had.
Megi

Usagi

And maximum gusts of 170 kts! 315kph!!!! That's like a massive tornado.

And there's another one coming through just behind this!

Radar:

Rainfall so far today:

Last night around 11pm the wind switched to the west briefly and came roaring down off the mountains - some seriously strong porch clearing gusts - but didn't last long.

Latest JTWC has lowered the track back the southern tip of taiwan, but upped the wind speed again to 130 kts (241 kph!). This could go all the way to a cat 4 or even 5.

Yes, this is looking more ominous with every passing hour. I have to work all day tomorrow so Thursday will be preparation day. I suspect we'll be getting something by then.

Looks like things will start on Friday night and peak sat morning, which is the 21st. Is a king tide a one day thing or is it high for a period around that? Does it also correspond with an extra low tide, or is low tide higher than normal as well?

Latest JTWC track has moved closer towards us, now making landfall in southern taiwan. Wind speed forecast has jumped to 115kts, which is 213kph! Hang onto your hat - and your roof. But the greatest threat still comes from the rain. If it holds that path, and it probably will, more-or-less, then this is now a full bunker down preparation typhoon.

The chickens and i make a good team - i dug out the drains today to try and prevent their shed from being washed away - they gleefully did their best to scratch in the fresh dirt and fill them in again.

The Moon Festival takes place during the full moon of the equinox, right? Yes, just verified. Full moon is on the 19th, Moon Festival day, and the equinox is on Sept. 23rd.

UPDATE: Yes, I've been doing some searches, and apparently a full moon during an equinox can produce some extraordinary tides. Now we have a full moon, an equinox, and a typhoon. Granted, the full moon isn't happening on the exact day of the equinox, but they're pretty darn close, with the typhoon sandwiched right in between.