Four people went missing in Taiwan amid torrential rains, with a typhoon expected
Kyiv • UNN
Torrential rains and flooding hit southern and eastern Taiwan, leaving four people missing and prompting the closure of schools and offices. The island is preparing for Typhoon Saudel.
Four people went missing after torrential rains hit southern and eastern Taiwan on Monday, shutting offices and schools as authorities prepare for a typhoon that could strike the island later this week, UNN writes, citing Reuters.
Details
A low-pressure system has lingered over southern Taiwan for the past several days, causing heavy rains and flooding.
Local authorities in the two cities of Kaohsiung and Tainan, home to more than four million people, ordered offices and schools to close, as did Pingtung and Chiayi counties and the mountainous eastern counties of Taitung and Hualien.
The Kaohsiung government said it expects cumulative rainfall over the five-day period during which the low-pressure system is active to exceed 1.3 meters, nearly twice as much as the city usually receives in an entire year.
Taiwan's fire service reported that four people went missing during the flooding—three in Hualien and one in Tainan.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said it had carried out scheduled preparations for heavy rainfall at all its Taiwanese plants, which were operating normally. TSMC has plants in both Tainan and Kaohsiung, and is also building new facilities in Chiayi County.
Taiwan Railways said there would be disruptions on the main eastern coastal line and in train services to and from Kaohsiung and Taitung, express services would be canceled, and regional train services would depend on weather conditions.
Taiwan's Central Weather Administration separately said that Typhoon Saudel, which is currently moving toward Japan's southern Okinawa region, would likely pass the northern part of Taiwan early Friday morning before reaching China's eastern coast.
After passing by Japan's southern islands, it will slow down and become a moderate-strength typhoon, although forecasters said it would not make landfall in Taiwan but would bring heavy rains, the administration said.