The Republic of Palau is on typhoon watch as the nation’s emergency agency declares condition 3.
Condition 3 means that the public are encouraged to prepare for the storm by trimming trees, securing loose objects, stocking up on water, canned foods, batteries and other emergency supplies.
As of noon Tuesday November 5, 2013, schools have been dismissed and are not expected to resume until further notice.
All government offices are also closed on Wednesday and Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Palau International Airport is scheduled to close on Wednesday at 6:00 pm Palau time.
Experts say some light to moderate rain is expected today from the outer bands of Tropical Storm Haiyan.
Heavy showers should start coming in Wednesday afternoon through Friday afternoon.
Winds and high surf are expected to increase as Haiyan nears Palau on Wednesday evening.
As of 11:00 am (Palau time) Weather Service Bureau public advisory update, the storm is located 805 miles east of Koror and 585 miles east-southeast of Yap with maximum sustained winds at 65 mph and moving west at 16 mph.
Tropical Storm Haiyan is expected to maintain about the same forward speed and turn slightly toward the west-northwest during the next 24 hours.
The storm is forecasted to steadily strengthen during the next couple of days and is likely to become a typhoon by this afternoon.
The storm is expected to pass north of Palau on Wednesday evening when the tide is at its high at 7.2 feet.
As of 1:00 pm Palau time, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center has upgraded Tropical Storm Haiyan to Typhoon moving west at 16 mph with maximum sustained winds of 75mph and gusts to 92 mph with the location of 740 miles east of Palau.