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.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
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.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of