Tropical Storm Nangka, which will leave Taiwan today, was expected to do little to ease the threat of drought in northern Taiwan, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) said yesterday.
Nangka, just off southern and eastern counties yesterday, was expected to pass Taiwan today as it moves northeast, Central Weather Bureau officials said.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
"The impending drought in the north, however, remains a threat because little rainfall will be brought by Nangka," WRA Deputy Director Chen Shen-hsien (
In order to limit consumption, water pressure in northern counties, including Hsinchu, Taoyuan and Taipei, is still being reduced at night.
Chen said heavier water consumption due to the spread of SARS over the past two months has increased demands on the Shihmen Dam in Taoyuan County and the Feitsui Reservoir in Taipei County.
Chen said that the water supply for the north could be sustained until the end of the month because the storage level is 100 million cubic meters more than at the same time last year.
Facing the worst drought in the past two decades, Taipei City adopted water restrictions on May 13 last year.
Chen said a meeting by the Ministry of Economic Affairs about handling the impending water shortage will be held on June 17 to review rainfall this month and determine whether stricter conservation measures are needed.
According to the weather bureau, expected relief may come on Thursday with new precipitation.
According to bureau, rainfall last month was disappointing. Forecasters said yesterday that rainfall last month in Taipei was 88.8mm, far less than the normal level of 188mm to 303mm.
In central Taiwan, officials said, last month's rainfall was 100.8mm, less than the normal level of 162mm to 280mm.
In southern Taiwan, rainfall last month was only 13.5mm, which is far less than normal levels ranging from 98mm to 235mm.
WRA officials said yesterday that Nangka might make it possible to channel more water from the Kao-ping River, which divides Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties, to the Nanhua Reservoir in Tainan County.
The officials said water levels at the Tsengwen and Wushantou reservoirs in Tainan County are falling due to heavy demand from the agricultural sector for irrigation.
The water accumulations at the two reservoirs yesterday were at their second-lowest levels in the past three decades.
The level at the Tsengwen, the largest reservoir in the country, was 168.84m yesterday, lower than the dead storage level -- the level below which water must be pumped out -- of 171m.
Due to the approach of Nangka, the Council of Agriculture yesterday urged residents in mountainous areas to take precautions in the event of mudslides.
"Although Nangka is just a tropical storm, residents in mountainous areas on the Hengchun Peninsula should check to see whether revetment and escape canals nearby can resist torrential rain," said Wu Hui-lung (
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
CHIPS AND DEFENSE: Trump said the US had lost its chip business and Taipei should pay it for defense, and added that ‘we’re no different than an insurance company’ Taiwan-US relations are solid, and both sides are in agreement that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region are everyone’s concern, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday following comments by former US president Donald Trump that Taiwan “should pay” for US defense. Taiwan is thankful to the US for supporting Taiwan’s bid to participate in international organizations, Cho told a news conference in Taipei. “I know the people very well, respect them greatly. They did take about 100 percent of our chip business,” Trump told Bloomberg on June 25 in an interview that was published on Tuesday. “I think
SHOW OF SUPPORT: Taiwan has been one of the largest buyers of US defense equipment, supporting American businesses and jobs, US lawmakers said Taiwan has been paying for its own defense, a US Department of State official said on Wednesday, adding that purchases of military equipment are important to the US economy and for ensuring regional security. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was asked at a news conference about comments by former US president Donald Trump, the Republican nominee in November’s US presidential election, who said during an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek that Taiwan should pay Washington for its defense needs. “The purchases that they [Taiwan] have made not only are important, we believe, to regional security, but are important to the United States economy,”