Typhoon Gaemi has brought about 970 million tonnes of rainfall into Taiwan’s reservoirs over the past two days, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) said.
From 7am on Tuesday to 7am yesterday, a total of 973.77 million tonnes of water poured into reservoirs across the nation, agency data showed.
Reservoirs in central Taiwan collectively received 373 million tonnes of rainwater from the typhoon, more than any other region in Taiwan, the data showed.
Photo courtesy of the Water Resources Agency’s Southern Region Water Resources Office
Most of the rainwater in central Taiwan, approximately 150 million tonnes, went into the Deji Reservoir (德基水庫) in Taichung, followed by the Wushe Reservoir (霧社水庫) and its downstream water body Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in Nantou County with 80 million tonnes, it said.
The rainwater inflow to reservoirs in southern Taiwan was the second-highest among all regions, totaling 337.5 million tonnes, with most of it, approximately 300 million tonnes, pouring into the Zengwen Reservoir (曾文水庫) and Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫) in Tainan, the data showed.
The Zengwen Reservoir was about 50 percent full between Tuesday and Wednesday before it received a massive boost from Gaemi to 74.01 percent as of 7am yesterday, while the water level at the Wushantou Reservoir rose to 92.28 percent during the same period, it showed.
Reservoirs in northern Taiwan collected a total of 263.2 million tonnes of rainwater, with the Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫) in Taoyuan seeing the largest inflow of 182.6 million tonnes, the data showed.
It was followed by the Feitsui Reservoir (翡翠水庫) in New Taipei City, with 59.8 million tonnes, while the Baoshan Reservoir (寶山水庫) and the Baoshan Second Reservoir (寶二水庫) in Hsinchu County collectively received 9.8 million tonnes.
The agency also captured data on storage rates at the reservoirs across the nation as of 10am yesterday.
In northern Taiwan, the Sinshan Reservoir (新山水庫) in Keelung was 85.28 percent full, followed by the Baoshan Second Reservoir at 83.97 percent, the Shihmen Reservoir at 81.36 percent and the Feitsui Reservoir at 72.21 percent.
In central Taiwan, the Liyutan Reservoir (鯉魚潭水庫) in Miaoli County was 97.91 percent full, while the Deji Reservoir and the Sun Moon Lake reservoir were 91.56 percent and 98.93 percent full respectively, the data showed.
Southern Taiwan’s Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫) in Tainan was 100 percent full, while the Zengwen Reservoir and the Wushantou Reservoir were refilled to 77.25 percent and 94.36 percent respectively, the data showed.
The agency also published the latest information on disaster prevention, with the following discharging water to avoid overflows: New Taipei City’s Shihmen Reservoir, Cingtan Weir (青潭堰) and Jhihtan Dam (直潭壩); Taichung’s Deji Reservoir and Shihgang Dam (石岡壩); Nantou County’s Wushe Reservoir and Jiji Weir (集集攔河堰); Yunlin County’s Hushan Reservoir (湖山水庫); Chiayi County’s Neipuzih Reservoir (內埔子水庫); Tainan’s Baihe Reservoir (白河水庫), Deyuanpi Reservoir (德元埤水庫), Wushantou Reservoir, Zengwen Reservoir, Nanhua Reservoir, Jingmian Reservoir (鏡面水庫), Hutoupi Reservoir (虎頭埤水庫) and Yanshueipi (鹽水埤水庫); Kaohsiung’s Agongdian Reservoir (阿公店水庫); and Pingtung County’s Mudan Reservoir (牡丹水庫).
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the