Extremely heavy rain is expected nationwide over the next two days as Tropical Storm Lionrock moves closer to Taiwan, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said last night.
At 8:30pm, the bureau issued a sea warning for Lionrock, which was located 320km west-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) — the southernmost tip of Taiwan. It was moving southeasterly at 6kph.
The bureau said the status of Namtheun had been downgraded from tropical storm to tropical depression last night and lifted the land and sea alerts for Namtheun.
Forecaster Chen Yi-liang (陳怡良) said Namtheun’s force was weakening.
“Namtheun has become less of a threat, but we will still need to monitor the development of Lionrock and cannot underestimate the extremely heavy rain brought by Lionrock,” Chen said.
As of 6:15pm yesterday, the center of Namtheun was located 150km west of Taipei. It was moving southwesterly at 7kph.
Tropical Storm Kompasu, meanwhile gained momentum and strengthened into a typhoon earlier yesterday. It was centered 870km east of Taiwan and was moving northwest at 24kph.
No major damage was reported as of press time, although the rain caused minor road damage in some areas, including sections of the West Coast Highway (西濱公路) near Miaoli County.
Those planning to travel today are advised to check conditions before setting out and to call airline and shipping companies to confirm if services have been canceled because of the weather.
As part of preparations for the approaching storms, the Ministry of National Defense dispatched a total of 3,362 soldiers to 70 townships nationwide, including Kaohsiung County’s Namasiya (那瑪夏) and Taoyuan (桃源) townships, where Typhoon Morakot wreaked havoc in August last year.
In related news, Kaohsiung District Prosecutor’s Office yesterday closed an investigation into the deaths caused by Morakot with the conclusion that the casualties were the result of a natural disaster rather than negligence or criminality.
Prosecutor Wang Chun-li (王俊力) said the case was formally closed as no crime suspects or clear evidence of illegal conduct was found after the year-long investigation.
Wang said the prosecutors visited local residents and places devastated by the storm to investigate whether any individuals or agencies had behaved illegally.
They also consulted various government departments such as the Water Resources Agency, the Forestry Bureau’s Pingtung Forest District Office, the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau and the Kaohsiung County government to collect information, Wang said.
An assessment team led by university professors also produced a report to assist the investigation, he added.
However, some survivors of mudslide-battered Siaolin Village (小林) in Kaohsiung County expressed concerns about the investigation.
Tsai Sung-yu (蔡松諭), head of a reconstruction and development association in the village, said that survivors had not been invited to take part in the investigation.
The government should hold a briefing for these survivors to explain the investigation report and also propose concrete measures to prevent such disasters from happening again, he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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