The Council of Agriculture said yesterday that Typhoon Wipha, which swept through the north and northeastern regions of the nation on Tuesday, had affected crops in areas lying north of Miaoli, although the damage was not excessive.
Council officials said that according to initial reports from local governments, the typhoon damaged about 24 hectares of crops, with losses estimated at NT$7.8 million (US$236,300).
Persimmon orchards in Hsinchu County suffered the brunt of the damage and there were no reports of major damage in central and southern regions, officials said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FORESTRY BUREAU HSINCHU DISTRICT OFFICE
As traffic in mountainous areas of Miaoli and Hsinchu was disrupted because of the heavy rain, the damage in those areas had yet to be assessed, they added.
WARNINGS
The Central Weather Bureau lifted its warning for Typhoon Wipha, which brought strong wind and heavy rain, while the council also lifted a warning for river flooding and mudslides.
A total of 169 people were evacuated from mountain villages in the northern county of Hsinchu amid concerns of possible mudslides triggered by torrential rain, officials at the Central Disaster Response Center said on Tuesday.
EVACUATIONS
Compulsory evacuation came after a code red alert was issued for the villages, the officials said, adding that citizens were taken to temporary shelters in neighboring areas.
In addition, 237 people in the northern counties of Taipei and Taoyuan were evacuated to eight temporary shelters because of the typhoon, officials noted.
Although Typhoon Wipha was expected to have passed Taiwan late on Tuesday night, officials said that residents in Ilan, Keelung, Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli should remain alert for strong winds and heavy rain.
POWER OUTAGES
Meanwhile, as of Tuesday night, 8,795 households were affected by temporary power outages in northern Taiwan, but officials said power had already been restored.
Officials also reported that torrential rain brought by the typhoon had caused road and bridge collapses in mountainous areas of central and northern Taiwan.
The rain also flooded several highways in the region, officials said.
See:
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS