Typhoon Haitang tore across Taiwan yesterday, bringing powerful winds and torrential rain, and shutting down schools, workplaces, airports and railroads across the country. Haitang was the strongest typhoon to hit the country in five years.
As of press time yesterday, one person -- a 65-year-old man hit by a falling rock in Taichung County -- was confirmed dead, according to the government's Central Disaster Prevention and Relief Center. Twenty-five injuries were reported, with many hurt after being hit by fallen trees or billboards, or cut by broken window panes.
Two women also drowned -- one at Taipei's Yucheng water pumping station, and the other in Taoyuan -- but the center's officials had not yet established whether the two deaths were related to the typhoon. In Ilan, a car smashed into the sea in heavy rain and police were searching for the driver.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Blackouts caused by the storm affected 1.36 million households and 12,000 households experienced water restrictions.
Premier Frank Hsieh (
"All local governments must remain on the alert. We have to prevent potential mudflows and landslides from causing damage to people," Hsieh said at a central disaster prevention meeting yesterday.
The center of Typhoon Haitang yesterday made landfall at Tungao Township (
At 6pm yesterday, Haitang was packing maximum winds of 162kph, down from a previous 184kph, and gusts of up to 198kph, weaker than the earlier 227kph, the Central Weather Bureau said.
If the typhoon stays on its present course, it will hit China's southeastern coast this afternoon.
Schools and workplaces were closed yesterday in all of the nation's cities and counties. All trains and domestic flights were cancelled. About 90 percent of international flights were also cancelled.
Forecasters said yesterday that ships sailing in the Taiwan Strait and residents of Kinmen and Matsu should remain on the alert because strong winds and heavy rains are moving across the Strait toward southern China. Local governments in Kinmen, Matsu and Yunlin County yesterday announced that schools and workplaces would remain closed today.
Hsieh yesterday morning inspected the Yuanshanzih flood diversion tunnel in Keelung. At 8am yesterday, the tunnel began to operate to divert water from the Keeling River to the northeastern coast of the island. Due to the operation, several communities in Sijhih City (
"However, we still have make the construction perfect by mending 11 small water gaps," Hsieh said.
Central Weather Bureau statistics showed that Ilan County was especially hard hit, with cumulative rainfall exceeding 1,000mm in many areas. As of press time, Taipingshan (
After analyzing up-to-date rainfall statistics, the Council of Agriculture yesterday issued mudflow and landslide warnings and listed 185 rivers across the country in "critical danger" of flooding.
In Taipei City, howling winds uprooted trees and street signs. Billboards lay toppled on the roads, and sandbags lined the doors of shops and homes. Household waste collection service was unavailable yesterday because all garbage trucks were being used to collect leaves and tree branches that had fallen on streets.
also see story:
Typhoon leaves destruction in its wake
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
‘BOOMING’: ’ The number of partners we have here is incredible. You can see from their stock prices. They’re doing so well, they’re so happy,’ Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp’s spending in Taiwan has ballooned to about US$150 billion a year, 10 times the US$10 billion to US$15 billion the company spent five years ago, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, suggesting Taiwan’s strategic importance in the global artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain. “Taiwan is the epicenter of the AI revolution. This is where the chips come, packaging comes. This is where the systems are made. This is where AI supercomputers were created,” Huang said at a meeting for the company’s employees in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei, the planned site of Nvidia’s Taipei headquarters. “Taiwan
RSS