Typhoon Haitang, which brought tremendous rainfall and caused dozens of casualties in Taiwan, yesterday was downgraded into a less-devastating tropical storm. However, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) reminded people of the danger of potential flooding, because torrential rainfall is expected to continue over the next few days.
The strength of Haitang began decreasing after it made landafall in Taiwan late Sunday. Yesterday, it was classified as a tropical storm before it departed Taiwan on its way to China. However, forecasters said that people in Taiwan should still be vigilant for heavy rains.
As of yesterday, the bureau's statistics said that since Sunday, cumulative rainfall exceeding 1,000mm had been measured in many places in Taiwan. In the south, Pingtung County's Sandimen Township (
PHOTO: HUANG SHIH-LEI, TAIPEI TAIPEIS
In Kaohsiung County, yesterday's torrential rains boosted cumulative rainfall to 1,384mm. In Ilan, many areas experienced rainfall exceeding 1,000mm. Forecasters said that peripheral air currents surrounding Haitang would bring heavy rain to Taiwan, and people must be alert over the following days.
According to George Lu (呂國臣), a division chief at the bureau's Weather Forecast Center, torrential rains will continue today in the central, southern, and southeastern parts of the country.
"Residents should avoid carrying out activities in mountains and on the beaches. Heavy rains might trigger mudflows, landslides and floods in mountainous areas," Lu said.
Because of up-to-date rainfall statistics, the number of watercourses in "critical danger" of flooding has been increased from 185 to 553 yesterday by the Council of Agriculture (COA). Meanwhile, 867 watercourses have also been identified as having the potential danger of flooding.
The council said yesterday that Haitang had caused NT$1.32 billion (US$41.4 million) in financial losses in the agricultural sector. Many crops have been ruined. Farmers in the most seriously affected counties, including Miaoli, Kaohsiung, Hualien and Taitung, will be entitled to compensation through financial aid for their losses.
The passage of Haitang has also increased the turbidity of river water. The Taiwan Water Supply Corporation (TWSC) said yesterday that water restrictions in some communities in southern Taoyuan County will be solved within days. Due to the turbidity, a single water treatment plant in the county can only treat 400,000 tonnes of water a day, rather than 600,000 tonnes as is usual. However, TWSC officials said that trucks carrying potable water would remain available for affected people at all times.
Meanwhile, Japanese water experts have been invited by TWSC to check the functioning of the Shihmen Dam (石門水庫), a major reservoir in the north of the county, because some water intakes malfunctioned after Haitang hit Taiwan. To make sure water reserves in the reservoir are available, engineers for the Water Resources Agency have been working on the establishment of pumps as alternatives.
Meanwhile, the center of the typhoon landed in China near Lianjiang County, Fujian Province just after 5pm yesterday, an official at the provincial disaster relief bureau said by telephone.
At least 850,000 people were evacuated from vulnerable areas of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces since Sunday, other state media said.
In Zhejiang's Wenzhou City, water was already filling the streets as winds of up to force 12 battered buildings, the radio report said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The national meteorological office forecast that the typhoon would move northwest overnight.
Chinese authorities have been on high alert after learning lessons last year when Typhoon Rananim devastated the area, killing at least 164 people.
Frantic round-the-clock preparations that began on Monday have seen volunteers and 5,000 of the People's Armed Police mobilized to evacuate people to higher ground, reports said.
also see story:
Ma, Hsieh battle over typhoon
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,
RSS