Torrential rain brought by the circumfluence of Typhoon Saola began to affect eastern parts of the nation yesterday, with 40 people evacuated and several instances of road damage reported on some highways.
Officials in Datong Township (大同鄉), Yilan County, said they evacuated 40 residents from Yingshih Village (英士村) at 4:30pm because the village was located in a mudslide-prone area.
The township also closed Tianguer Bridge (田古爾橋).
Photo: Yang I-min, Taipei Times
The heavy rainfall caused flooding at the venue of the Yilan Folk Game Festival, which is located next to the Dongshan River.
To prevent casualties, the Directorate-General of Highways had pre-emptively closed parts of six highways, including highways No. 7, 8, 9, 11 and 23.
The Central Weather Bureau issued a land warning for Saola at 8:30pm yesterday, with the outer arms of the storm able to touch the nation’s east coast.
The bureau said Saola was not upgraded to a typhoon until 2am yesterday, when the radius of the storm expanded from 200km to 220km.
As of 8:30pm, the center of Saola was 330km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) on the southern tip of the Hengchun Peninsula. It was moving north-northwest at 9kph.
However, he said that people living in the nation’s northwestern region would start to see stronger rainfall as well after the typhoon moves past 24 degrees north latitude.
The bureau advised residents of Yilan County, New Taipei City (新北市), Taoyuan County, Hsinchu County and Miaoli County to prepare for extreme torrential rain, classified as more than 350mm of rain in a 24-hour period.
People in Hualien County, Keelung, Taipei, Hsinchu City, Greater Taichung, Nantou County and Chiayi County should also prepare for torrential rain, classified as more than 200mm of rain in a 24-hour period.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from