Areas of Kaohsiung reported flooding after heavy rain last night that continued today, suspending school and work, leading to evacuations and closing highways across the city.
The mountainous regions of Namasiya (那瑪夏) and Maolin (茂林) districts, as well as four villages in Taoyuan District (桃源), were the hardest hit, having suspended classes and work today.
In Taoyuan, Maolin and Liugui (六龜) districts, 384 residents were evacuated after the Agency of Rural Development and Soil and Water Conservation announced 16 “yellow” warnings for rock falls.
Photo courtesy of the Kaohsiung City Government
Daliao District (大寮) recorded 205.5mm of rain in 24 hours, reaching the threshold for “torrential rain,” Kaohsiung Weather Station data showed.
The region has also been hit with strong winds.
Police attended the scene of a fallen tree in Sanmin District (三民), although no other damage or injuries were reported.
Five schools in Taoyuan District were the first to announce closures, after which Maolin District suspended work and classes, with Namisiya District following suit at 12pm.
Provincial Highway No. 29 had numerous rockfalls, leading to safety concerns and the closure of schools and offices, Namasiya District Administrator Kung Hsien-chieh (孔賢傑) said in a statement.
Precautionary closures were implemented in Taoyuan District along the Southern Cross-Island Highway from Cinhe (勤和) to Fusing (復興) and from Meishankou (梅山口) to Siangyang (向陽).
The Jiasian Maintenance Section said that it would monitor weather conditions and conduct safety patrols before reopening the sections.
Amid a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, all of Kaohsiung's 38 administrative districts had heavy rain.
The Kaohsiung City Government said that rain was forecast to continue until 8pm.
With a high tide within this period, there are increased drainage risks in coastal and low-lying areas, it said, adding that residents should take precautions against flooding.
In Tainan, the police department's Second Precinct received a report at 9am that a tree had fallen in West Central District’s (中西區) Nanning Street, crushing a parked car and blocking the road.
Police cordoned off the area and reported the incident to the city government to remove the tree.
The city said that as of 11am, Annan District (安南) had the most rain in the area, with 155mm, although authorities had not receieved any reports of flooding.
In Chiayi City, torrential rain had fallen since early in the morning, with multiple areas recording more than 100mm.
Rocks were blocking Provincial Highway No. 3 in both directions after a landslide at the 310.35km mark in Chiayi County’s Zhongpu Township (中埔). No injuries had been reported.
At 11am, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued a heavy rain warning for rural Taichung, as well as Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin and Hualien counties.
It announced a torrential rain advisory for Chiayi city and county, Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Pingtung and Taitung counties.
People in mountainous areas in Hualien, as well as Orchid (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green islands, should watch out for possible heavy rain, the CWA said.
The public should be aware of the possibility of thunder and lightning on top of strong winds, while those in mountainous areas should stay alert for a sudden rise in water levels and falling rocks, it said.
Taiwan would remain on the periphery of Typhoon Butterfly through tomorrow, making the weather extremely unstable and bringing severe rainfall that would shift northward, independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) said.
Localized strong winds and rainfall would continue in the south, Wu said, with a strong chance of severe rainfall tomorrow.
Temperatures would dip slightly due to the rain, but humidity is expected to be high, he added.
Total rainfall for the 48-hour period is not expected to exceed 400mm in low-lying areas and 450mm in mountainous areas, the CWA said.
The heaviest rain was expected today, before easing this evening and tapering off tomorrow, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said.
Additional reporting by Tsai Ching-hua, Chen Yen-ting and Ko Yu-hao
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
RSS