Torrential rain brought by a southeast airstream yesterday led to severe flooding in Pingtung County and Kaohsiung, as the two regions were still reeling from devastation caused by a tropical depression system hovering over the nation last week.
Despite the heavy rain that began on Monday night, the Kaohsiung City Government did not make an announcement to cancel school and work until 6:12am.
Many commuters complained that they were not aware of the announcement until after leaving for work.
Photo: Chang Chung-i, Taipei Times
Although the city has spent about NT$30.3 billion (US$986.2 million) over the past 12 years to build 13 flood detention ponds and on other hydroengineering projects, flooding was still reported in Gushan (鼓山), Yancheng (鹽埕), Sanmin (三民) and Fongshan (鳳山) districts.
Pingtung did not cancel school and work, although flooding was reported in Pingtung City and several townships.
A resident in the county’s Yanpu Township (鹽埔) surnamed Lu (盧) told reporters yesterday morning that he was used to flooding in his neighborhood, because it happened every time there was heavy rain.
Photo: Chang Chung-i, Taipei Times
Another resident, surnamed Sheng (盛), said his home was inundated by midnight, adding that it has been flooded three times this month.
“It is a long-standing problem. One wonders what the government has been doing all these years,” Sheng said.
Accumulated rainfall in Pingtung’s Sinyuan Township (新園) surpassed 380mm by 7:50pm, followed Pingtung County’s Wandan Township (萬丹) with 361mm, Central Weather Bureau data showed.
The southwest airstream would continue to affect central and southern Taiwan, as well as the southeast region, the bureau said, adding that these regions could experience hours of rainfall.
Rainfall in the nation today would progressively decrease compared with Monday and yesterday, but chances of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall remain high nationwide, it added.
The bureau forecast that the monsoon trough would gradually move away from Taiwan and the southwest airstream would weaken tomorrow and Friday, although chances of showers would remain high in central and southern Taiwan, as well as the southeast region.
From Saturday to Monday next week, the humidity would decrease further as the Pacific high pressure tends to move west, the bureau said, adding that cloudy to sunny skies with afternoon thundershowers are forecast for most of the nation during this period.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS