Four missing as torrential rain pounds southern, eastern Taiwan
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A low-pressure system has hovered over southern Taiwan for the past few days, bringing heavy rain and causing flooding.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Southern Taiwan closed offices and schools due to heavy rain and flooding caused by a low pressure system.
- Kaohsiung expects rainfall over 1.3m in five days, nearly half its annual average.
- Typhoon Saudel will pass northern Taiwan on August 28 before moving to eastern China, says Taiwan’s Weather Administration.
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TAIPEI – Four people were missing after torrential rain lashed southern and eastern Taiwan on Aug 24, closing offices and schools, with the authorities bracing themselves for a typhoon to hit the island later in the week.
A low-pressure system has hovered over southern Taiwan for the past few days, bringing heavy rain and causing flooding.
The governments of the two cities of Kaohsiung and Tainan, home to more than four million people, ordered offices and schools closed, as did the counties of Pingtung and Chiayi and the mountainous eastern counties of Taitung and Hualien.
The Kaohsiung government said it expected cumulative rainfall over the five-day period of the low-pressure system to exceed 1.3m, nearly half of what the city typically expects in an entire year.
Taiwan’s fire department said four people were missing in the flood waters – three in Hualien and one in Tainan.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said in a statement that it had completed routine heavy rain preparation procedures at all its Taiwan factories, which were operating normally.
TSMC has factories in both Tainan and Kaohsiung, and is building new facilities in Chiayi county.
Taiwan Railway said there would be disruptions on the main east coast line, and trains to and from Kaohsiung and Taitung, with express services cancelled and local trains dependent on weather conditions.
“If you’ve got nothing on, for goodness’ sake, don’t go out,” Taitung county chief April Yao wrote on her Facebook page.
Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said separately that Typhoon Saudel, currently heading towards Japan’s southern Okinawa region, is expected to pass by the northern part of Taiwan early on Aug 28 before reaching the eastern coast of China.
After passing the southern Japanese islands, it will slow and become a medium-strength typhoon. Though it is not forecast to make landfall on Taiwan, it will bring heavy rain, the administration said. REUTERS
