As strong winds and heavy rain brought by Typhoon Aere are expected to affect Taiwan for an extended, Taipei City and County, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City as well as Hsinchu, Taichung, Miaoli, Nantou and Ilan counties yesterday announced that schools and offices in the area will remain closed today.
After one day of closures yesterday, the stock and futures markets will also remain closed today.
Typhoon Aere yesterday triggered flooding and landslides throughout central and northern Taiwan. Bad weather will continue through tomorrow and natural disaster prevention measures will be necessary for people in mountainous and low-lying areas, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).
With a 200km storm radius, the typhoon began to have a severe effect on the country yesterday. Nationwide, power to more than 22,800 homes in northern Taiwan was cut due to the storm. According to the Taiwan Power Company, landsides in remote mountain areas prevented technicians from fixing downed lines. As of press time, only half of the affected households had regained electricity.
At 5pm yesterday, Typhoon Aere was packing maximum gusts of 165kph and was centered 200km east-southeast of Taipei, moving west-northwest at 11kph, meteorologists said. It was predicted that Aere would be centered 90km northwest of Taipei as of 2pm today.
Forecasters said yesterday that Aere had begun moving slower than expected and would soak Taiwan with rain for about two days.
Due to the slowness and slightly altered route of Aere, the bureau yesterday revised its accumulated rainfall predictions to higher levels. As of press time, 574mm rainfall had fallen in Miaoli County. Meanwhile, in Kaohsiung and Hsinchu counties, rainfall exceeding 400mm was measured. Forecasters said yesterday that 1,000mm of rainfall might be measured in Chiayi County, Miaoli County and northern Taiwan.
"Such heavy rain will be devastating. People have to be on the alert for mudflows, landslides and flooding," said Fred Tsai (
Tsai said that low-lying coastal areas, including parts of the Taipei basin, might be inundated by rising tides.
The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday issued evacuation advisories for 13 townships vulnerable to mudflows and landslides. The threatened townships are in Taichung, Miaoli, Nantou and Yunlin counties.
Officials said that the continuous rainfall might trigger landslides and mudflows in the more mountainous areas of Miaoli and Chiayi.
The council's forestry bureau yesterday suspended the service of tourist trains in Alishan, Chiayi County, because 50m of the roadbed had subsided.
Several bridges across Chenyulan River in Nantou were closed.
Also see story:
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS