About 200cm of rainfall fell in parts of southern Taiwan from Monday last week to 9am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District (桃源) saw total rainfall of 2,205mm, while Pingtung County’s Sandimen Township (三地門) had 2,060.5mm and Tainan’s Nanhua District (南化) 1,833mm, according to CWA data.
Meanwhile, Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County saw 1,688mm of accumulated rain and Yunlin County’s Caoling (草嶺) had 1,025mm.
Photo courtesy of the Yunlin County Government
The Pingtung County Government said that 831 local residents have been pre-emptively evacuated from mountainous areas. A total of 576 are staying with relatives in low-lying areas, while the other 255 are in shelters.
CWA forecaster Chu Mei-lin (朱美霖) said that three factors are contributing to the intensive rainfall in southern Taiwan.
The first is successive southwestern air currents that formed over the ocean and moved landward, impacting the western half of Taiwan proper and outlying Penghu County.
Photo courtesy of the Tainan City Government
Second, southwesterly winds brought in unstable air that developed into convection currents over land and resulted in rain.
Third, the southwesterly winds sweeping into southern Taiwan’s mountainous topography caused orographic rainfall, causing intense rain in the region’s mountainous areas, Chu said.
Orographic rain is produced when moist air lifts as it moves over a mountain range, cooling as it rises and forming clouds that produce rain upwind of the mountain ridge.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration
A large-scale low pressure system has been hovering over Taiwan since late last month, resulting in persistent southwesterly winds, Chu said.
The intense rain peaked once from Monday to Thursday last week, with a second peak occurring over the weekend, she said.
The CWA has issued precipitation warnings through yesterday to this morning.
Extreme torrential rain advisories have been issued for mountainous regions in Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, where accumulated rainfall exceeding 500mm in 24 hours is forecast, according to the CWA.
Torrential rain advisories — warning of rain exceeding 350mm in 24 hours or 200mm in three hours — have been issued for Tainan, Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Pingtung County, and mountainous areas in Yunlin and Chiayi counties.
Warnings of extremely heavy rain, defined as accumulated rainfall exceeding 200mm within 24 hours or 100mm in three hours, were issued for Taichung, and Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi counties, the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) and mountainous areas of New Taipei City.
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Chiayi City, and Yilan, Hualien, Taitung and Penghu counties, Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), as well as mountainous regions of Taoyuan and Hsinchu County received heavy rain advisories, warning of rain of more than 80mm in 24 hours or 40mm in one hour, the CWA said.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said the draft “post-Typhoon Danas reconstruction special act” is expected to be approved at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday.
As the heavy downpour in central and southern Taiwan continues to cause disaster situations, the bill would aim to meet the needs of people living in affected areas, he said, adding that flood control in affected areas would also be prioritized in the latest water management plan.
The Cabinet has approved a plan to enhance river and drainage regulation by local governments in response to climate change, with a total of NT$100 billion (US$3.33 billion) allocated over a four-year period, Cho said.
The plan not only includes the construction of pumping facilities, but would also focus on critical work of water management projects at upstream and downstream stages, as well as relevant regulatory establishment, he said.
As of 6:30pm yesterday, data from the National Fire Agency showed that the rain in southern Taiwan had resulted in three deaths, four missing and 50 injured.
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