The nation yesterday struggled to recover from the devastation caused by Typhoon Soudelor, with about 240,000 households nationwide still left without electricity as of press time last night.
The Central Weather Bureau lifted both sea and land warnings for Typhoon Soudelor at 8:30am yesterday after it moved toward China’s Fujian Province. Statistics from the Ministry of the Interior showed that the strongest typhoon the nation has faced this year killed seven people and left five missing.
The number of people injured during the typhoon had risen to 402.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said in a written statement said that work to restore power was restricted because either road access to disaster-stricken zones was cut off or power facilities were covered by fallen trees, adding that it had to wait for highway authorities and local governments to remove obstacles so that work could begin.
Taipower said that about 4.3 million households had experienced power failure on Saturday because of the typhoon, the highest number that the company had ever handled, adding that the number had dwindled to 236,980 by 7:16pm.
The National Airborne Service Corps was dispatched to airlift 13 people from the mountainous area in New Taipei City’s Wulai District (烏來) to receive medical treatment as the area remained cut off from the rest of the city because of severely damaged roads. Helicopters were also sent to deliver 700kg of food and other life-sustaining items to residents in the area. A photograph taken from an airborne helicopter showed that the river in Wulai had burst its banks.
Photo: CNA
Hot-spring pipelines on both sides of the river were destroyed by the flood.
The Directorate-General of Highways said that the section between Kueishan Bridge (龜山橋) and Wulai on the Highway No. 9 — the only way to reach Old Street in Wulai — suffered serious erosion of the roadbed, adding that reconstruction work can only be completed using heavy machinery. It estimated that Wulai would not be accessible to the general public until Sunday.
To assist the New Taipei City Government in rescuing people still trapped in Wulai, the Ministry of National Defense sent 36 members of the Army Special Combat Forces and four Hummers.
While the rest of the nation managed to weather the storm, clean water supply also became an issue.
Many supermarkets were sold out of bottled water as people finding tap water too turbid to use searched for cleaner alternatives.
The Taipei Water Department said that the turbidity of the water from the Sindian River (新店溪), which is a source of tap water, had at one point escalated to 30,000 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU), or five times more than the maximum capacity of the water treatment facility.
Though the turbidity had dropped to 4,500 NTUs, people are advised to boil water before drinking it, the department said.
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport has had to deal with a huge backlog of flight passengers, as 366 flights were canceled on Saturday due to the arrival of the typhoon.
It said that 120,000 passengers were at the airport yesterday, which is equivalent to the volume that the airport saw during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition, agricultural damage caused by Typhoon Soudelor was estimated at NT$600 million (US$18.9 million).
The government received a total of 23,953 disaster reports from the public. A total of 6,470 cases were related to fallen trees, which was the highest among all the other disaster categories.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College