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Waterworld

Scene from Keelung yesterday, following flooding from the weekend's heavy rains. PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES

In an eerie replay of damage from recent storms, people in northern Taiwan woke up to widespread flooding yesterday after a night of continuous heavy rain.

People waded across flooded streets with car roofs protruding from the water. Train service on some lines was interrupted. Television footage showed rescue personnel in inflatable boasts evacuating residents from their homes to shelter on higher ground. Cars and scooters were submerged, and floodwaters in some low-lying areas rose to one story deep.

``It's horrible; we dared not sleep the whole night because we were worried about the water rising further,'' a woman told a cable television station.

In Taipei, people rushed to pile sandbags around the entrances of underground rail stations and pedestrian passages.

A resident of Nangang in east Taipei City, said that he and his family had piled sandbags to stop water from flowing into their basement. ``But all our efforts were in vain. We had a basement full of water and I just don't know where to start cleaning it,'' he said.

A woman bails water from the ground floor of a shop in Taoyuan City yesterday. PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES

Minor mudslides occurred in mountain areas in Taipei and Keelung City, but no damage was reported.

Later yesterday, flooding in the Taipei area subsided, and residents began to sweep mud out of their homes and shops.

Keelung

Water levels in flooded regions of Keelung reached as high as two stories yesterday after Friday night's torrential rainfall, with pumping stations out of order at several locations.

Flooding hit Chitu, Paifu and Tingnei Townships most seriously, with water levels in heavily flooded regions reaching over 3m above safety levels.

Scene from Keelung yesterday.

There was serious flooding on several Keelung City streets. The fire department was called on to assist with the evacuation of residents on Shenaokeng Road, where chest-high water levels forced one taxi driver to abandon his cab in the middle of the street.

Roughly 4,055 households lost electricity in Keelung and trains between Taipei and Keelung were cancelled. But the city faced bigger problems with crippled pumping stations throughout Tingnei Township.

Scene from Keelung yesterday.

The rainfall began to abate yesterday, with the Central Weather Bureau recording 244mm of rain in the region between midnight and 7pm yesterday, while 324mm of rainfall was recorded for Friday night between 8 pm and yesterday morning.

The overflow of water from nearby rivers inundated the newly built protection embankments in Tingnei, prompting Keelung City Mayor Hsu Tsai-li (許財利) to call on Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) to authorize the use of the Yuan Shan Tsai flood diversion sluice ahead of the facilities' completion.

A road in Taoyuan County that had already been damaged by Typhoon Aere was washed away by heavy rains in the last two days, along with a vehicle marooned on it. PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES

Keelung city also sought support from the central government, asking for 10 large and 30 small water pumps yesterday at around noon. The Ministry of National Defense authorized the use of 50 small water pumps but withheld lending out any large water pumps for the time being.

Taoyuan

A Taoyuan resident who died in floodwaters at the Mintsu Road underpass was the first victim of yesterday's heavy rains.

"The victim was about 50 years old but we are still trying to identify him, since we did not find any photo identification on him," said Gung Yung-hsin (龔永信), the captain of the Taoyuan County Fire Bureau's First Division. "We are trying to figure out how he drowned."

According to Gung, the division received a report that somebody had drowned at the underpass, which is near the Taoyuan District Court. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they discovered that the vehicles-only underpass was flooded. Firefighters swam to locate the victim and pulled the body out.

Gung said that the heavy rain began around 8pm on Friday and hadn't stopped. Parts of Taoyuan City's Chengkung Road and Chingkuo Road were flooded, as were areas in Taoyuan County's Pingchen and Chungli cities. The floodwaters were from one to two meters deep.

In Pingchen City's Lungchuanchia, approximately 80 families were trapped when rivers overflowed and flooded their community. However, firefighters have brought necessary supplies to these families.

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