The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) yesterday said that it would issue flood alerts, after rainfall brought by Typhoon Krathon left many parts of the nation underwater last week.
Legislators at a meeting of the Education and Culture Committee raised concerns about the absence of flooding warnings, and asked whether the council’s National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction could incorporate flood alerts into its Public Warning Cell Broadcast Service.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Pei-yu (陳培瑜) said that the center sent 728 warning messages during the typhoon, mostly consisting of landslide warnings from the Ministry of Agriculture.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
The Central Weather Administration issued many torrential rain alerts, but none said they might lead to flooding, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷) said.
Recipients might not immediately connect a heavy rain alert with the potential for flooding, he said.
Chen suggested that the center incorporate flood warnings already issued by the Water Resources Agency into the cell broadcast service.
NSTC Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) agreed with the recommendation, and said the agency would make it happen.
The types of warnings currently issued by the service cover landslides and large-scale collapses, sudden torrential rain, earthquakes, strong winds, tsunamis and air defense.
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