Thunderstorms brought heavy rain to the Greater Taipei area yesterday afternoon, causing flash floods in parts of the region, as firefighters, police and other officials worked in the streets and emergency centers to cope with the situation.
Taipei’s Gongguan (公館) business area, famous for its night market and proximity to National Taiwan University, recorded 105 millimeters (mm) of rainfall between 2pm and 3pm, data from the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) showed.
The Daan (大安), Xinyi (信義) and Wenshan (文山) districts in Taipei and Sindian (新店), Yonghe (永和) and Jhonghe (中和) districts in New Taipei City experienced heavy rain, meaning more than 50mm of rainfall in 24 hours, the bureau reported.
An exit at Gongguan MRT station was temporarily closed due to flooding concerns.
Taipei’s MRT system has been running normally and has not been affected by the heavy rain, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said, although at one point the time between trains was extended.
In Taichung , a man on a sand bar in the Dajia River (大甲溪) was stranded by rising water and rescued by firefighters, officials said.
Another man might be missing and rescuers are searching for him, they added.
Due to the severe weather conditions, a flight scheduled to land in the Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) was redirected to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Water pumping teams have been sent to flooded neighborhoods, the Taipei Public Works Department said.
As the thunderstorms move to the north, the flooding is expected to gradually recede, the department added.
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