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.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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