Pouring rain and gusty winds brought by Typhoon Krosa assailed the nation yesterday, disrupting transportation and forcing hundreds of people to evacuate their homes.
The coast line of the Taiwan Railway Administration was shut down at 8:30am yesterday when the electric wire linking Tungshiau (通宵) and Yuanli (苑裡) was severed by a falling electricity tower, forcing trains to operate on the mountain line instead.
Express trains heading toward Ilan and Hualien counties before 6pm were all canceled.
High speed trains operating in the morning were delayed by 20 minutes to 30 minutes as inclement weather conditions forced the trains to slow down at some sections along the route.
The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp said in the afternoon that trains departing after 5pm had all been canceled.
The company intended to resume normal operations today at noon.
The Taipei City MRT and bus systems were in operation yesterday. However, because of strong winds, service on the Muzha Line, Xinbeitou Branch Line, Xiaobitan Branch and part of the Danshui Line was suspended from 3:30pm yesterday, the Taipei City Department of Transportation said.
Meanwhile, four inbound international flights and 30 outbound flights were canceled. More than 280 domestic flights suffered the same fate.
Strong winds felled wooden fences on the northeastern section of Taipei Songshan Airport yesterday morning.
The airport's two enclosing walls facing Binjiang Street (
As of press time, the typhoon had damaged six provincial highways, one farm road and 27 country roads.
Buffeted by winds, a container truck on the Formosa Freeway (National Freeway No. 3) flipped over and fell on the shoulder, killing a passenger and injuring another.
Foehn winds and a tornado were reported in Taitung County yesterday, as the local temperature climbed to 36.3oC.
As of 4pm yesterday, the National Fire Agency said 820 people had been told to leave their homes, including 176 residents from Dashi (
Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
RSS