Heavy rain in the wake of Typhoon Khanun lashed mountainous areas of Taiwan yesterday, causing floods and landslides that blocked roads and stranded hundreds of people as authorities rushed to restore transportation links.
The Directorate-General of Highways said that rain in Nantou County led to multiple mudslides and landslides along Provincial Highway No. 14, the No. 14A branch from Wushe (霧社) to Dayuling (大禹嶺) in Renai Township (仁愛), and on township roads 71, 83, 85 and 89.
Renai had 939.5mm of rain in a 72-hour period, Central Weather Bureau (CWB) data showed.
Photo: Tung Chen-kuo, Taipei Times
Aside from Jhongjheng (中正), Hujhu (互助) and Nanfeng (南豐) villages, which were still accessible, other places on the affected roads are like islands, and risk running short on supplies, including fresh water, officials said.
Nantou County Commissioner Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華), during an inspection of the Nanfeng section of Provincial Highway No. 14 yesterday morning, said that the Nantou County Government has asked the Executive Yuan to work with the Ministry of National Defense to have military personnel ready to assist with disaster relief efforts.
The Reservist Command has about 300 personnel it could mobilize in the region and its commander was among those in the group making the inspection.
Photo courtesy of a reader
A gas station in Renai was buried by landslides and the Lilai Hot Spring Hotel (麗來溫泉飯店) in the township’s Lushan Hot Springs (盧山溫泉) area was in danger of collapse as part of its foundations had been washed away, officials said.
The county government said that experts would assess whether the resort is safe to operate and, if not, determine the best way to demolish the building.
A garage in the Lushan Hot Springs area, which has not been used for more than a decade due to landslide concerns, also lost part of its foundation in a landslide, officials said.
National Chi Nan University president Wu Tung-hsing (武東星) said that the institution has offered the use of air-conditioned graduate student dormitories for locals displaced by the typhoon, especially people from Nanfeng and Chungyang (春陽) villages and the Lushan area.
In Miaoli County, widespread flooding was reported in Sanyi (三義) and Yuanli (苑裡) townships, prompting the local fire bureau to dispatch personnel to rescue people trapped in homes or vehicles.
Up to 303 households in Jhunan Township (竹南) lost power. Electricity was restored later in the day, officials said.
Trees and utility poles fell in Hsinchu County, blocking County Road No. 122 near the 48.5km marker in Wufeng Township (五峰).
In mountainous districts of Kaohsiung, more than 900 residents were evacuated as a precautionary measure following torrential rainfall.
Kaohsiung’s Namasiya District (那瑪夏) had accumulated more than 210mm of rain in 24 hours as of 9:30am yesterday, data from weather stations showed.
With a combination of southwesterly wind and gusts from the extremities of Typhoon Khanun, monitoring stations in Kaohsiung, as well as Pingtung, Miaoli and Chiayi counties, had each recorded more than 200mm of rain in the 12 hours to noon yesterday, the CWB said.
Heavy rain was forecast to continue over the weekend, although at a reduced level, it said, adding that warnings remained for landslides in mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
RSS