TAIPEI: More than 900 residents in mountainous districts of Kaohsiung have been evacuated as a precautionary measure following torrential rainfall that led to widespread flooding and mudslides across Taiwan Saturday.
As of 9 am Saturday, 568 people from Namasia, 356 from Taoyuan and 21 from Maolin had been evacuated to nearby shelters, Central News Agency (CNA) quoted the Council of Indigenous Peoples as saying in a statement.
Based on data provided by Kaohsiung’s weather station, Namasia had accumulated over 210 millimetres of rainfall in 24 hours as of 9.30 am Saturday, while other districts had also seen rising rain levels in a short period of time.
Following the combination of southwesterly winds and gusts from the tail end of Typhoon Khanun, the Central Weather Bureau said monitoring stations in Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Miaoli and Chiayi had all recorded more than 200mm of rainfall in the 12 hour-span as of noon Saturday.
In Miaoli, widespread flooding was reported in Sanyi and Yuanli townships, prompting the local fire bureau to dispatch personnel to rescue residents trapped in their homes or vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Water Resources Agency (WRA) has issued level 1 flood alerts for Taichung’s Waipu and Dajia districts as well as Miaoli’s Sanyi and Yuanli townships in view of the continuing rainfall.
According to information on the WRA’s website, level 1 flood warnings are issued for areas where rainfall has begun to inundate townships and roads.
It also advised residents living downstream to evacuate for their safety, as several reservoirs across Taiwan including the Yuanshan Weir in New Taipei and the Shigang Dam in Taichung began discharging water.-Bernama
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