A heavy afternoon thundershower yesterday again disrupted traffic to and from Hualien County, which has yet to fully recover from the devastation caused by Typhoon Gaemi in July and an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale that struck off its coast on April 3.
The Highway Bureau closed two-way traffic on Suhua Highway (part of Highway No. 9) after a mudflow was reported at the section between Chongde (崇德) and Heren (和仁).
The mudflow also covered railway tracks at the same section, forcing Taiwan Railway Corp (臺鐵) to suspend services as well.
Photo courtesy of a reader
The bureau said it was scheduled to reopen access to the section at 7:30pm yesterday and would allow two-way traffic to proceed for two hours before closing it again at night.
The railway operator said its crew and excavators were standing by on the site and would start repairing the tracks when it is safe to do so.
Until the railway track is repaired, east coast-bound express trains would end service at Luodong (羅東) Railway Station in Yilan County, while commuter trains would not proceed after Heren, the railway company said.
Northbound trains at the east coast would all end service at Hualien, it added.
Railway passengers headed to the west coast can take the South Link Line connecting Taitung and Pingtung counties before transferring train services from Pingtung to Kaohsiung or the high-speed rail, it added.
The Civil Aviation Administration said Uni Air (立榮航空) would dispatch two flights from Taipei to Hualien today, while Mandarin Airlines Ltd (華信航空) would send one flight from Taichung to Hualien, adding that more flights to Hualien could be arranged.
The Central Weather Administration said there is a high likelihood of precipitation across the nation this week, due to the influence of a low-pressure system.
Separately, a vehicle caught fire at about 3pm yesterday while heading northbound through the Hsuehshan Tunnel (雪山隧道) on the Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (Freeway No. 5).
Firefighters extinguished the blaze 20 minutes after arriving at the scene.
The two people in the vehicle escaped without injury, authorities said, adding that the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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