A moist air current dumped torrential rain on southern Taiwan yesterday, prompting the closure of schools and offices in Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung, where sporadic flooding has been reported.
The Water Resources Agency issued a Level 1 flood warning for the two municipalities and a Level 2 warning for Pingtung County.
Government agencies and schools in Greater Tainan were closed yesterday morning, while Greater Kaohsiung authorities suspended classes and work in government offices in the afternoon.
Photo: Huang Chih-yuan, Taipei Times
According to the Central Weather Bureau, the areas that received the most rainfall in the 13 hours between midnight on Monday and 1pm yesterday were Greater Tainan’s Sigang (西港) and Anding (安定) districts, where 318mm and 313mm of rain accumulated respectively.
Pingtung’s Liouciou Township (琉球) was hit by 302mm of rain during the same period, while Greater Kaohsiung’s Dashe (大社), Renwu (仁武) and Hunei (湖內) districts reported accumulations of 249mm, 239mm and 238mm respectively, bureau data show.
Greater Tainan’s disaster operations center said it had evacuated 70 people as a precaution since Monday night, including 32 residents of an education and nursing institution for the developmentally challenged.
Photo: CNA
The bureau said there is a high chance of torrential and extreme torrential rainfall in southern Taiwan today. People in the center of the country should be wary of damage caused by the rain.
“Greater Kaohsiung has been really unfortunate recently,” Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said yesterday, referring to the gas pipeline explosions that killed 30 and injured 310 on July 31 and Aug. 1; the recent downpours that have inundated the streets ripped open by the blasts; and recent online rumors saying the explosions have made the municipality’s air toxic because.
Greater Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau Director Hsu Chuan-sheng (許傳盛) called on netizens to refrain from spreading misinformation and said he has asked police to identify the person behind the original post warning of “toxic air.”
Meanwhile, more than 5,000 Taiwan Railways Administration passengers were affected yesterday when train tracks were flooded and a pantograph malfunctioned.
The malfunction terrified passengers on the No. 3131 train, who were horrified to hear explosions as the train entered Baoan Station at 9:07am, but the administration later explained that the blasts occurred because of a tilted pantograph, the part on top of a train that collects power from the overhead cable.
The passengers were evacuated after the train entered the station and the electricity supply to the track was resumed at 10:55am, the administration said.
It added that flooding was reported on multiple track sections in Greater Tainan, Greater Kaohsiung and Pintung yesterday morning. Surging river water slowed trains to just 50kph between Greater Tainan and Baoan (保安).
As of 11am yesterday, 5,850 travelers had experienced delays.
ANNOUNCEMENT: People who do not comply with the ban after a spoken warning would be reported to the police, the airport company said on Friday Taoyuan International Airport Corp on Friday announced that riding on vehicles, including scooter-suitcases (also known as “scootcases”), bicycles, scooters and skateboards, is prohibited in the airport’s terminals. Those using such vehicles should manually pull them or place them on luggage trolleys, the company said in a Facebook post. The ban intends to maintain order and protect travelers’ safety, as the airport often sees large crowds of people, it said, adding that it has stepped up publicity for the regulation, and those who do not comply after a spoken warning would be reported to the police. The company yesterday said that
NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS: ‘No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path,’ William Lai said, urging progress ‘without looking back’ President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged parties across the political divide to democratically resolve conflicts that have plagued domestic politics within Taiwan’s constitutional system. In his first New Year’s Day address since becoming president on May 20 last year, Lai touched on several issues, including economic and security challenges, but a key emphasis was on the partisan wrangling that has characterized his first seven months in office. Taiwan has transformed from authoritarianism into today’s democracy and that democracy is the future, Lai said. “No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path for Taiwan,” he said. “The only choice
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
RSS