The Executive Yuan has approved a NT$3.09 billion (US$94.1 million) plan to use artificial intelligence (AI) to manage flooding risks from typhoons and other weather events, the Water Resources Agency said yesterday.
The program, which is to run from next year to 2029, would utilize advances in AI, fifth-generation telecom networks, the Internet of Things and pattern recognition to upgrade disaster-response capabilities, including through risk spatialization and augmented decisionmaking, as well as by increasing the number of monitoring stations to 1,200 nationwide, the agency said.
The program would launch mobile apps to improve first-responder communications and coordination, and improve awareness of climate risks among the public, it said
Photo courtesy of the Water Resources Agency
Novel technologies introduced by the program’s previous iteration from 2020 to this year boosted the agency’s ability to detect flooding hazards six hours in advance, it said.
The agency uses an AI-based monitoring system that analyzes data from 2,072 flood detectors and 8,769 cameras, it said, adding that it has 1,676 mobile water pumps, 19,500 flood barrier sections, 544 community-based independent flood management units and 1,477 volunteers.
The government has created partnerships with private enterprises to create a joint natural disaster response capability, the agency said, adding that it has accomplished the government’s preliminary targets for smart disaster relief capability and infrastructure construction.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
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