Torrential rain that began on Saturday night has caused flooding in central and southern parts of the country, damaging roads and forcing more than 500 people to evacuate.
The Pingtung County Fire Department helped move six elderly residents from a nursing home in Gaoshu Township (高樹) as a surging river threatened to flood the area.
The only access to the county’s Wutai Township (霧台) was cut off by landslides on two sections of Highway No. 24. The electrical grid in Wutai was also damaged by rain.
Photo: Lo Hsin-chen, Taipei Times
Residents in Sihgou Village (泗溝) in Wanluan Township (萬巒) had to wade through thigh-high floodwater to leave.
Laiyi Township (來義) also evacuated residents.
The Directorate-General of Highways closed the makeshift road on the Central Cross-Island Highway after a huge landslide was reported at section 79K of the highway.
Three farmers who were picking vegetables at the time fled to avoid injury.
Between 12am and 7pm yesterday, Shangdewen (上德文) in Sandimen Township (三地門) in Pingtung received 504mm of rain. Dahanshan (大漢山) in Chunrih Township (春日) and Weiliaoshan (尾寮山) in Sandimen Township had accumulations of 458mm and 412mm respectively.
All the locations had what the Central Weather Bureau defines as extremely torrential rain — meaning that accumulated rainfall reached 350mm within a period of 24 hours.
Because the rain is expected to continue, the Executive Yuan has asked the public to avoid mountainous or coastal areas during this period of time.
Southern parts of the country can expect extremely heavy rain over the next two days, while the weather in other parts of Taiwan will also be rainy due to an air front from the southwest, the bureau said.
Premier Sean Chen (陳冲) has asked relevant ministries to take precautionary measures and support local governments if rescue efforts are needed, the Cabinet said in a statement yesterday.
Two emergency response centers have been opened in southern Taiwan, and the Council of Agriculture has a task force on standby to respond to mudslides, the Cabinet said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs also has a task force ready to distribute water pumps in the event of flooding, it added.
The public is urged to avoid traveling near waterways, the Cabinet said.
In northern and northeastern areas of the country, afternoon thundershowers can be expected for the next two days, it said.
Kaohsiung and Pingtung could continue to experience extremely heavy showers, with up to 350mm of rainfall possible within a 24 hour period, the bureau said.
Heavy rain could also be expected in northern Taiwan after tomorrow, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
PERSONAL DATA: The implicated KMT members allegedly compiled their petitions by copying names from party lists without the consent of the people concerned Judicial authorities searched six locations yesterday and questioned six people, including one elderly Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) member and five KMT Youth League associates, about alleged signature forgery and fraud relating to their recall efforts against two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. After launching a probe into alleged signature forgery and related fraud in the KMT’s recall effort, prosecutors received a number of complaints, including about one petition that had 1,748 signatures of voters whose family members said they had already passed away, and also voters who said they did not approve the use of their name, Taipei Deputy Chief Prosecutor
TRADE: The premier pledged safeguards on ‘Made in Taiwan’ labeling, anti-dumping measures and stricter export controls to strengthen its position in trade talks Products labeled “made in Taiwan” must be genuinely made in Taiwan, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, vowing to enforce strict safeguards against “origin laundering” and initiate anti-dumping investigations to prevent China dumping its products in Taiwan. Cho made the remarks in a discussion session with representatives from industries in Kaohsiung. In response to the US government’s recent announcement of “reciprocal” tariffs on its trading partners, President William Lai (賴清德) and Cho last week began a series of consultations with industry leaders nationwide to gather feedback and address concerns. Taiwanese and US officials held a videoconference on Friday evening to discuss the
RSS