Five people have died, three people remain missing and 78 people have been injured amid torrential downpours that have battered Taiwan since Monday last week, the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) said in a statement yesterday.
The latest death was reported by police in Chiayi County yesterday morning, after the body of a woman who was suspected to have fallen into a creek near her home in Alishan Township (阿里山) the day before was spotted.
Photo: Taipei Times
The body was found between rocks in the creek on the downstream side after the search that was suspended overnight due to high water levels resumed, the Chiayi County Police Department's Jhuci Precinct said.
It was the fifth death linked to the heavy rainfall since Monday last week, and followed the deaths of a woman whose body was recovered in waters off Kaohsiung on Sunday and a 57-year-old man who drowned on Thursday last week when he rode into a heavily flooded street in Nantou County, the CEOC said.
The first fatalities were two deaths that occurred on Wednesday last week, when a vehicle carrying a family of five plunged into a ravine along Provincial Highway No. 20 in Kaohsiung during bad weather, the CEOC said.
Two bodies were recovered, while three of the passengers remained missing as of 5:40pm yesterday, it said.
Meanwhile, 78 people across Taiwan have been injured in incidents related to the torrential downpours, while three were trapped by floods and waiting to be rescued, the CEOC said.
Between 12am on Monday last week and 4pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded accumulated rainfall of 2,922mm in Kaohsiung's Maolin District (茂林) and 2,364mm in Wutai Township (霧台) in Pingtung County, the statement said.
Up to 50,671 households were hit by power outages, and state-run Taiwan Power Co was still working to restore the power supply to 303 households by 5pm yesterday, the CEOC said.
The Ministry of Agriculture reported estimated agricultural losses hitting NT$260.19 million (US$8.73 million) as of 5pm yesterday due to the wet weather, including NT$45.28 million worth of persimmon and NT$23.37 million worth of dates.
Cash handouts and low-interest rate loans are available to eligible farmers, the ministry said.
During his visit to Kaohsiung yesterday, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said the Cabinet is set to pass a special bill with more than NT$30 billion earmarked for rebuilding in the aftermath of Typhoon Danas that affected Taiwan early last month and the recent torrential downpours.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
RSS