The Internet community in Taiwan rallied yesterday to help people affected by the devastating flooding brought by Typhoon Morakot.
“I can’t do much, but I’ve ordered 10 cases [of bottled water] and sent them to disaster-hit areas in the south,” a Plurker identified as Philip0721 wrote on the Plurk Web platform late on Saturday night. “Each one of us, let’s all order 10 cases of bottled water for the south.”
Amanda, another Plurker, acted on that recommendation, while Shan Wen (善文), whose family runs a bottled water factory, said he would send a truckload of water to disaster zones.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
“Let’s help each other, put all our donated items together, or call our friends,” Plurker Skstone wrote early yesterday morning. “It’s clear that the central government won’t do much.”
Internet user Xdite created a Web page for other fellow surfers to report emergencies and provided a map on the front page to show the location of the emergency calls.
“Four people have been trapped on the second floor at No.1-11 Silian, Silian Village, Siaying Township [下營], Tainan County, without any food since last [Saturday] night — we can’t get through to the county government or the media help hotline, please send some food, thanks!” a help seeker wrote in a message posted on the Web page.
“My 90-year-old grandmother and aunt have been missing since last night, I don’t know if they’ve been rescued,” another help seeker from Pingtung County said.
Using the online Google Maps service and with the help of several friends, Wanfang Hospital psychiatrist Billy Pan (潘建志) created a map marking disaster locations around the country.
Viewers can obtain detailed information about disaster areas by clicking on the map.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
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 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last 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 covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
Firefighters are working to put out a fire on Taipei’s Yangmingshan (陽明山) reported earlier this morning. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The Taipei Fire Department said it received a report of a fire at Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) at 11:17am, dispatching four command vehicles, 16 firetrucks, one ambulance and 72 personnel. The fire is still burning on about 250m² of land, according to initial estimates, as eyewitnesses reported seeing smoke rising from the mountain. The Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters on Facebook said the Qixingshan (七星山) hiking trail starting from Xiaoyoukeng and the Xiaoyoukeng parking lot are closed as firefighters work to put
RSS