An estimated 1,700 people in rural Kaohsiung County are thought to be stranded after two days of torrential rains washed away a vital road leading into Taoyuan Township (桃源).
The Kaohsiung County Fire Department said residents were in no immediate danger. However, emergency rescue crews airlifted eight people in need of medical attention because of prior conditions at noon yesterday.
Local authorities said plans were also being made to evacuate an estimated 90 to 100 tourists that are also stranded in the area.
Parts of Provincial Highway 20 have been impassable since Friday after the swelling Laonong River (荖濃溪) overwhelmed temporary bridges erected after Typhoon Morakot last August.
Taking advantage of a brief interruption in the rain yesterday, emergency engineering crews entered the area to reconnect the fallen bridges.
The four unreachable villages in the township are Meishan (梅山), Fusing (復興), Cinhe (勤和) and Lafulan (拉芙蘭).
Officials did not comment on when the roads would be reopened.
The Central Weather Bureau yesterday announced that daytime temperatures are expected to start rising today and stabilize by Tuesday. Nighttime temperatures are still expected to remain low.
The bureau said that record levels of snowfall on Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Yushan (玉山) are also expected to end today with the rising temperatures and a drop in humidity. However, rain is expected in central and northern regions over the next few days.
The announcement signals an end to the cold front that has engulfed the nation and claimed four lives since the start of the Lunar New Year holidays.
On Friday, a middle-aged man died after drinking large amounts of alcohol with a friend in Taichung City. Doctors said the death was due to acute myocardial infarction brought on by heavy drinking and low temperatures.
In related news, the cold weather this year has at least made residents of the Penghu archipelago happy during the Lunar New Year holiday as they have had an abundant seaweed harvest.
Penghu laver, an edible seaweed that is popular and sold at relatively high prices in Taiwan’s retail markets, grows bigger and better in cold weather, islanders said.
Aside from shipping the seaweed to Taiwan, the harvesters have also done brisk business at home on Kupo Island (姑婆嶼) in the northern part of the archipelago.
The island, which is abundant in the high-value laver, is open to the public during the Lunar New Year holiday, and over the past few days, hundreds of islanders and holidaymakers have made trips to Kupo to pick the prized weed.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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