Heavy rains expected in days ahead

Residents nationwide should prepare in the coming days for heavy rains accompanied by mudslides, officials at the Central Weather Bureau warned yesterday.

Officials also warned residents to stay away from areas susceptible to mudflows or landslides that could be triggered by torrential rains.

"In the following three days, heavy rains will come to many places around the island, as well as remote islands, including Kinmen," Daniel Wu (吳德榮), deputy director of the bureau's forecasting center, said yesterday.

In addition, weather officials warned yesterday that rising tides could threaten coastal areas. Residents in coastal areas should be prepare for the possibility of flooding, they said.

Many places around Taiwan experienced heavy rain yesterday as a result of a tropical, low-pressure system near Tungsha island in the South China Sea.

In Mutan township in Pingtung County, more than 120mm of rain fell, while the rainfall in Liyutan township in Hualien County was 87mm. The rainfall in some places in Ilan County exceeded 60mm.

The Suhua Highway (蘇花公路), which connects Ilan County and Hualien County, was closed at 6pm yesterday because of mudslides.

In central Taiwan, Taichung Airport was closed at 5pm yesterday due to sudden rain.

In Taichung City, some residents were frightened by unusually loud thunder. Lightening struck a furniture factory, resulting in a huge fire.

Heavy rain also led to the shutdown of power distribution equipment, leaving hundreds of families without electricity for hours.

But in Penghu, yesterday's rains were welcome. According to Lai Feng-wei (賴峰偉), Penghu County commissioner, 30,000 tonnes of water were collected by the island group's three reservoirs over the past three days.

Lai said yesterday that water available in the three reservoirs -- about 115,000 tonnes -- was enough to last residents until the middle of next month.

Weather officials said yesterday that rainfall in the days ahead would be concentrated more in the south.

In addition, officials issued heavy-rain and strong-wind alerts for ships sailing near Tungsha island and the southern part of the Taiwan Strait.

Meanwhile, weather officials were keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Halong yesterday, which is about 3,000km away from Taiwan.

Typhoon Chataan, meanwhile, is moving toward Japan's Ryukyu Islands, affecting Taiwan to a lesser degree.