Eight people sustained minor injuries in Taipei and 59,485 households lost power on Tuesday night as the northern part of the nation was brushed by Typhoon Maria, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday.
The center gave its last disaster briefing at 2:25pm.
“Everyone braved the typhoon and its aftermath with humility. God bless Taiwan that the typhoon did not cause too much damage,” Minister of Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) said, announcing that the center’s ad hoc emergency response team had been dismissed.
Photo: Eason Lam, Reuters
As of 2:30pm, electricity remained inaccessible at 3,435 households in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli and Lienchiang counties.
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) planned to resume power in all households by 11pm yesterday, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
Among the eight injured, three were hit by falling branches, three fell off motorbikes, one was injured by glass that fell from a building and the last fell down on the street.
Meanwhile, 941 people remained in shelters in New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Taichung, as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Yilan, Hualien and Lienchiang counties.
The Central Weather Bureau at 2:30pm lifted sea and land alerts, but kept a heavy rainfall warning for Yilan, Hualien and Lienchiang counties, as well as Keelung and New Taipei City.
All rail services resumed normal operations yesterday morning, while Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport added more flights for passengers who missed canceled flights. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said it hopes to transport all affected passengers by this morning.
As of 1pm, 40 schools across the nation were reported to have been damaged, with the total losses estimated at NT$1.09 million (US$35,760), the Ministry of Education said.
Most of the damaged schools are in New Taipei City, where 21 schools are in need of repair, with losses estimated at about NT$940,000, the ministry said.
Taipei schools suffered the second-highest losses of about NT$130,000, with eight schools damaged, followed by Keelung, where four schools were damaged at an estimated cost of NT$6,000, it said.
Jinshan Elementary School had the greatest losses of about NT$350,000, followed by Yeliou Elementary School at NT$210,000 and Laomei Elementary School at NT$100,000, all of which are in New Taipei City, it said.
No students or faculty members were injured, it said, adding that a summer camp field trip held by Taichung’s Guangfu Elementary School scheduled to take place in the mountains yesterday was canceled.
Additional reporting by Ann Maxon
SOLVED: Domestic orders have already overtaken the total sold to China last year, while the Canadian and US representative offices posted messages of support A joint effort by groups and individuals in Taiwan and abroad to prop up sales of pineapples after China announced a ban on imports of the fruit succeeded in just four days, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday. China on Friday announced that it would suspend imports of Taiwanese pineapples starting on Monday, citing biosafety concerns. Following the announcement, the council urged the public to assist farmers by purchasing pineapples, saying it hoped to sell 20,000 tonnes of the fruit domestically and 30,000 tonnes in exports. “Domestic orders have already surpassed the total sold to China last year,” COA Minister
Taiwanese netizens and politicians yesterday mocked a Chinese plan to build a transportation network linking Beijing and Taipei, calling it “science fiction” and “daydreaming.” Their comments were in reaction to the Chinese State Council’s release last week of its “Guidelines on the National Comprehensive Transportation Network Plan,” which include several proposed transportation links, with one map showing a line running from China’s Jingjinji Metropolitan Region (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) across the Taiwan Strait to Taipei. “This is the Chinese leadership daydreaming again of [fulfilling its] fantasy of extending China’s transportation network to Taiwan. I suggest people regard it as science fiction,” Democratic Progressive
‘ONE PERSON PER UNIT’: People undergoing home isolation cannot stay in a housing unit in which non-isolated people live, unless they have special approval Starting tomorrow, people under home isolation would be required to follow the “one person per housing unit” rule if in private housing, or stay at a quarantine hotel or centralized quarantine facility, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the rules require people under home quarantine to be quarantined with one person per housing unit, or at a quarantine hotel or centralized quarantine facility. “Starting on March 1, individuals under home isolation will also be subject to the ‘one person per housing unit’ rule,” he said. “We
‘UNITED FRONT’: Grooming young Taiwanese to become Internet celebrities or hosts is a Chinese tactic to spread propaganda to influence young people, a source said As part of its “united front” tactics, China has been grooming young Taiwanese to become Internet celebrities or Internet program hosts, a source said on condition of anonymity. Over the past year, about 1,000 Taiwanese living in China have participated in training programs and competitions for show hosts held in several cities, including Xiamen, Wenzhou and Hangzhou, the source said on Saturday. “Beijing is taking advantage of the openness of the Internet to spread propaganda about acceptance of China, and about ‘national security,’” the source said, adding that Taiwan’s national security officials are racing to fix the problem. Chinese infiltration of
RSS