Typhoon Morakot brought abundant rainfall to eastern and southern Taiwan on Sunday and yesterday but failed to release the north from its water-shortage crisis.
"Obviously, the passage of Typhoon Morakot brought little rain to the north. What we can do is look forward the arrival of the next typhoon," said Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢), the director of nation's Water Resources Agency (WRA), referring to Etau, a tropical depression headed into this region.
At a meeting held by the Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday, officials decided to remove Hualien County from the list of areas which are required to undergo stage-one water conservation effective today.
PHOTO: CNA
Keelung and some sections of Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu counties, however, were still on the list.
To limit the consumption of water at Hsinshasn Reservoir in Keelung, WRA officials will place Keelung City on stage-two water conservation measures on Aug. 9.
According to WRA, the reservoir would be empty by early September if heavy rain did not arrive.
Chen said that water supplies to residents in the north could be ensured before the end of September.
Whether to carry out stage-two water conservation, which will affect some industries relying on heavy water consumption in the north, will be discussed on Aug. 14.
According to the Central Weather Bureau, the tropical storm Etau, the 10th one this year, was 1,000km away from Guam and heading for Japan yesterday. Weather forecasters said it seemed unlikely that Taiwan would not be affected by the typhoon.
WRA officials yesterday called for water conservation, saying that water levels at major reservoirs in the north were dropping.
At Shihmen Dam in Taoyuan County and Feitsui Reservoir in Taipei County, the rainfall brought by the typhoon was less than 10mm.
The Central Weather Bureau yesterday lifted the typhoon alarm issued to residents in Taiwan. However, officials said residents of the offshore islands, including Penghu and Kinmen, should be alerted to torrential rains induced by unstable weather systems.
Morakot yesterday made a landing at Tawu (
Due to violent winds and rains, two local airports in Taitung were closed and main roads and railroads were disconnected. The typhoon once left more than 1,000 families in Taitung without power supply for hours.
According to the Central Weather Bureau, Morakot brought abundant rainfall to eastern and southern Taiwan.
In Taitung County, the rainfall at Chihpen (知本) exceeded 600mm, while that at Taimali (太麻里) exceeded 500mm.
In southern Pingtung County, rainfall at several townships approached 400mm. Heavy rain caused the Mutan Reservoir (
In Kaohsiung County, coastal areas suffered from floods caused by seawater pushed ashore.
Inland villages near the border between Kaohsiung and Tainan counties were inundated by a rising Erjen River (
Weather forecasters said residents in Kaohsiung and Pintung counties should stay alert in the eventuality of torrential rains today.
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