Flooding brought by Typhoon Doksuri killed one person and left two others stranded in a cave in eastern Taiwan, as the storm passed through the Bashi Channel.
A woman surnamed Wu (吳) was trapped and then drowned in the rising waters of the Mugua River (木瓜溪) near Wenlan Village (文蘭) in Hualien County’s Sioulin Township (秀林), the Central Emergency Operation Center said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The victim’s son called the Hualien Fire Department at 6:02pm that day to report that Wu went out in the typhoon to check some water pipes, but was trapped by the flooded river, it said.
hoto courtesy of the Guanshan Maintenance Construction Office via CNA
Wu’s husband and a third unnamed person tried to help Wu out of the water, but became stranded themselves, the center said.
First responders arrived two hours later and rescued Wu’s husband and the third person, while Wu showed no sign of life upon being recovered, it said.
Wenlan Village Warden Tien Wen-tsai (田文才) told the Central News Agency that nearly all residents of the community had left following an evacuation order issued earlier that day.
Photo: CNA
Meanwhile, a British citizen and a Taiwanese woman were trapped in a cave near the Lisong Hot Spring (栗松溫泉) in Taitung County’s Haiduan Township (海端) after being stranded by rising waters at about 8am on Wednesday.
First responders could not extract the two from the cave due to dangerous conditions, but were able to give them food, water and batteries, the center said.
They remained trapped as of press time yesterday.
As of 6pm yesterday, Doksuri was moving north-northwest about 190km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) at 30kph, the Central Weather Bureau said.
The bureau’s land alert was to remain in effect in regions to the south of Miaoli County, and in Nantou, Hualien, Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Kimen counties until today, it said, advising ships to proceed with caution.
The storm yesterday brought 350mm of rain to Hualien, Taitung and Pingtung, bureau forecaster Chu Mei-lin (朱美霖) said.
Winds were expected to gather speed south of Taiwan proper yesterday evening, while stronger winds and heavier rainfall were forecast for Kinmen and Lienchiang counties as the storm approaches the outlying islands this morning, she said.
Kinmen and Penghu counties closed schools and offices today, as did Kaohsiung’s Namasia (那瑪夏), Maolin (茂林) and Taoyuan (桃源) districts.
Winds would begin to die down in Taiwan proper with the departure of the typhoon today, Chu said.
Meanwhile, bureau forecaster Huang En-hong (黃恩鴻) said that a tropical depression off Guam was expected to become Typhoon Khanun.
The typhoon would likely head toward Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and forecasts have not ruled out the possibility that Khanun might make landfall in Taiwan, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS