With Typhoon Toraji dumping roughly 650mm of rain on Nantou County -- hardest hit during the 921 earthquake -- area residents yesterday not only had to contend with flooding, but also the threat of mudslides.
Residents of Chunken village (
At one stage, cars were seen floating in the torrents. Residents were forced to flee to the second floors of their buildings.
PHOTO: YOU WEN-YU, TAIPEI TIMES
"She clung to a pillar, but couldn't hold on," said an elderly man who had made it to a second floor sanctuary, as he wept about his wife who had tried to resist the waters and is now missing.
In the same village, TV crews from TVBS, ETTV, SET-N and Power TV, equipped with satellite news gathering trucks, were preparing to broadcast live reports from the area but were ultimately forced to abandon their trucks -- each worth more than NT$16 million -- as the rapids closed in on them.
In Nantou's Chushan township (竹山鄉), residents of the low-lying lands around the Mingchu bridge (名竹大橋) had to wade barefoot through a muddy field after the bridge collapsed under the deluge.
"There are three people who refuse to leave out of fear of losing all their property," a middle-aged resident said as he emerged from the muddy field and urged police to help persuade the trio to leave.
Some 20 households in neighboring Shangan village (
As the flood waters gradually subsided during the day, however, concerns about potential threats from mudslides were also raised in the Chiufen Erh Shan (九份二山) area of Nantou, where the water level in the area's dammed lakes had already exceeded danger levels.
"If some of the dammed lakes [in Nantou] overflow and trigger mudslides and it continues to pour, not only Nantou County but also neighboring Changhua County will be devastated," said Chou Kuang-yu (
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
The subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in Kumamoto, Japan, turned a profit in the first quarter of this year, marking the first time the first fab of the unit has become profitable since mass production started at the end of 2024. According to the contract chipmaker’s financial statement released on Friday, Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc (JASM), a joint venture running the fab in Kumamoto, posted NT$951 million (US$30.19 million) in profit in the January-to-March period, compared with a loss of NT$1.39 billion in the previous quarter, and a loss of NT$3.25 billion in the first quarter of
RESOLUTE BACKING: Two Republican senators are planning to introduce legislation that would impose immediate sanctions on China if it attempts to invade Taiwan US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday reaffirmed US congressional support for Taiwan, saying the US and “all freedom-loving people” have a stake in preventing China from seizing Taiwan by force. Johnson made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Sunday on US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last week. In an interview that aired on Friday on Fox News, just as Trump wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China, he said he has yet to green-light a new US$14 billion arms package to Taiwan and that it “depends on China.” “It’s a very good
RSS