Heavy rain and strong winds brought by Tropical Storm Lionrock yesterday threatened areas severely damaged by Typhoon Morakot last August, forcing residents in some villages to evacuate.
The warnings of mudslides and infrastructure damage were made as Lionrock gained strength by mixing with the outer layers of Typhoon Kompasu, which is making its way through the Pacific Ocean east of Taiwan toward the Korean Peninsula.
The Council of Agriculture has put Daniao Village (大鳥村) of Dawu Township (大武) in Taitung County on red alert for mudslides.
In addition, villages in Taimali (太麻里), Jinfong (金鋒) and Daren (達仁) townships in Taitung County, Liouguei (六龜), Jiasian (甲仙), Namasiya (那瑪夏) and Taoyuan (桃源) townships in Kaohsiung County and Sandimen (三地門), Majia (瑪家) and Wutai (霧台) townships in Pingtung County were placed on yellow alert.
Daniao Village residents were asked to take refuge at the Dawu Elementary School in the afternoon.
Residents in Sandimen Township were evacuated amid warnings of mudslides, with other villages getting ready to do so as well.
The Directorate-General of Highways said that six sections on provincial highways 17, 21, 20, 24 and 27 were now closed, either because rising water levels threatened to destroy makeshift passages or bridges, or makeshift passages had already been destroyed.
Transportation was also affected by the storm. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications said 123 domestic and international flights had been canceled and that shipping to Penghu, Kinmen and other islands had also been canceled.
However, the Central Weather Bureau lifted its land alert for Taiwan proper at 5:30pm, as Lionrock moved away. Penghu and Kinmen, however, were still on alert as the storm headed toward them.
As of 6:30pm, the center of Lionrock was 80km off the southwest coast of Penghu. It was moving northwesterly at 13kph. The radius of the storm was 100km.
Statistics showed that Taitung County’s Hongyeshan (紅葉山) recorded the highest rainfall yesterday, reaching 330mm by 6pm.
The 10 locations with the highest rainfall were all in Taitung County.
The bureau said Lionrock’s circumfluence could still bring torrential rain to southeastern regions today. The central, southern, eastern and northeastern regions could see heavy to torrential rain.
CHINA AND KOREAS
Lionrock, Kompasu and a third tropical storm are also on track to affect China, where authorities have started evacuating thousands and delayed the start of a new school term.
Kompasu is expected to reach North Korea early tomorrow, with South Korean media saying it would be the worst storm to hit the country in about a decade.
Forecasting service Tropical Storm Risk projects a Category 2 typhoon, meaning wind speeds of around 150kph.
Shanghai closed schools yesterday as a precaution against heavy rains and high winds from Kompasu, while authorities monitored potential damage at the World Expo.
The first day of the new school year was postponed until today.
Authorities said they were on alert for wind damage and flooding at the World Expo site, which has seen crowds of several hundred thousand people a day recently.
Xinhua news agency said 246 tourists were stranded on Nanji Island, off the coast of Zhejiang Province to the south of Shanghai, after ferry services were suspended because of strong gales.
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