As of 5pm yesterday, power had been restored to 97 percent of the 310,000 homes that were cut off from the grid when Typhoon Podul swept across southern Taiwan on Wednesday, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) said, while a man suspected to have been swept into the sea while fishing remained missing.
The outages mainly affected Taichung, Tainan, and Taitung and Chiayi counties, Taipower said in a statement, adding that fallen debris blocking roads had hampered repair efforts.
Taipower said it mobilized more than 4,000 personnel yesterday to conduct repairs, including sending staff from its Hualien, Yilan and Keelung offices to Taitung to provide assistance.
Photo: CNA
Although the storm has passed, rain might still bring power outages, the utility said, asking the public to report any damaged lines or equipment through the Taipower app.
Typhoon Podul exited to sea from Tainan’s Cigu District (七股) on Wednesday afternoon, with its eye passing over Beimen District (北門), causing multiple power outages, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) said at a post-disaster meeting at Taipower’s Hsinying District Office.
According to the office, 27,160 households in northern Tainan were affected by the outage.
Meanwhile, a 28-year-old man surnamed Lin (林) remained missing yesterday after being swept away by waves while fishing with a friend at about 1pm on Wednesday in Chiayi County’s Budai Township (布袋).
After search operations on Wednesday were hampered by strong winds and heavy swells generated by the typhoon, the coast guard deployed drones, helicopters and ships to continue the search yesterday.
The other angler with Lin was not injured, but the Coast Guard Administration said it has sent a letter to the Chiayi County Government to fine the man NT$50,000 to NT$250,000 for contravening the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act (災害防救法).
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) lifted all sea and land warnings for Typhoon Podul yesterday morning after it weakened to a tropical storm and moved inland over China.
Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) recorded Beaufort scale 17 gusts (202kph to 220kph), while Mount Dahan (大漢山) in Pingtung County logged the highest cumulative rainfall at 656mm.
It was followed by 388.5mm in Fengnan Village (豐南) in Hualien County’s Fuli Township (富里), and 360.5mm along the Lijia Forest Road in Taitung County, CWA data showed.
Agricultural damage totaled NT$355.4 million (US$11.9 million) as of 5pm yesterday, with Taitung County suffering the vast majority at NT$305 million, the Ministry of Agriculture said.
Taitung was followed by Taichung at NT$24.86 million, Nantou County at NT$13.57 million, Kaohsiung at NT$4.87 million and Pingtung County at NT$4.65 million, it said in a news release.
The main crops affected were custard apples, with 2,218 hectares, or one-quarter of the total, damaged, it said.
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