Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) yesterday apologized for any inconvenience caused by the city government’s late announcement of school and office closures due to flooding in some areas of the city caused by Tropical Storm Haitang, which made landfall in the south on Sunday.
The local government made the announcement at 6:25am yesterday, prompting complaints from the public.
A decision had been made earlier on Sunday that schools and offices would remain open because the Central Weather Bureau forecast that cumulative rainfall would not reach 350mm within a 24-hour period, the city’s standard for office and school closures, Lai said during an inspection tour of flooded areas.
Photo: CNA
The government reversed the decision after determining that flooding in some areas could disrupt traffic and pose a public hazard, Lai added.
Although 24-hour cumulative rainfall had only reached between 100mm and 200mm as of 8am, it had still caused flooding, Lai said, adding that the city government would learn from the incident and work to improve its flood control operations.
This is not the first time that Lai’s typhoon day announcements have attracted attention.
In August 2014, when Typhoon Tembin battered the nation, Lai bucked the trend set by other local governments in the center and south by deciding not to call a typhoon day, receiving much praise when the storm brought only minimal rain to the city.
However, when Super Typhoon Meranti lashed Taiwan on Sept. 14 last year, the city government announced that schools and offices would only be closed for half a day, prompting complaints from parents who had to brave the weather to pick up their children from school.
The same decision also angered parents after Typhoon Megi hit the nation in September last year.
At the time, Lai said the decision was made according to legal requirements and he asked for public understanding for any inconvenience caused by the decision.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday also apologized for the city government’s decision to call a typhoon day for Sunday, which turned out to have fair weather with little rain.
“I am also sorry and would like to apologize to the nation and the people,” he said.
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