Taiwan was enveloped by a strong dust storm originating from northern China yesterday, turning the sky brown and drawing a number of people to emergency rooms after suffering discomfort of the eyes and throat.
Chang Wen-han (張文瀚), head of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei, said as of noon yesterday, the hospital’s emergency room was crowded with patients, with a majority complaining about their eyes being in pain after wearing contact lenses while riding a scooter, while others were suffering from discomfort of the throat.
Hospital authorities forecast the number of outpatients would also increase today as a result of the pall of airborne sand hanging over northern Taiwan.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
People with cardiovascular or respiratory disease and those with weak immune systems, including young children and senior citizens, are advised to stay indoors until the sand has dispersed, said Chiang Chi-hui (江啟輝), head of Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s Department of Surgery.
“Drinking more water is also necessary,” he said.
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) reported that the concentration of particulate matter in the atmosphere over northern Taiwan at about noon yesterday was 1,700 micrograms per cubic meter per hour.
“Twenty-four dust level monitoring stations in northern Taiwan have recorded record dust pollution as a result of the most severe sandstorm in decades,” the EPA said.
The EPA expected the shroud of sand to have reached southern Taiwan by nightfall.
Those interested in checking the latest updates on the dust storm should visit dust.epa.gov.tw.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
RSS