《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》Floods, landslides leave two dead

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

A front hovering over the nation since Friday has brought torrential rainfall, floods and landslides which have left two people dead, five injured and two missing.

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A Central Weather Bureau observation station in Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District （桃源） measured 1.339m of rainfall between Friday and yesterday, the highest in the nation.

According to the Taoyuan District Office, average rainfall in the district is 2.7575m per year.

It was followed by Chiayi County’s Alishan Township （阿里山） and Nantou County’s Shenmu Village （神木村）, which saw rainfall of 1.1645m and 1.122m, respectively, the bureau said.

One of the dead was found in a culvert in New Taipei City’s Bali District （八里） on Friday afternoon, after she and her motorcycle were carried away by floodwaters, Central Emergency Operation Center information showed.

Flooding also killed a man in New Taipei City’s Shimen District （石門）, whose body was found on Saturday morning near his house.

Meanwhile, three people in Keelung were injured. Among them was a child who was swept away by floodwaters while waiting at a bus stop.

The other two people sustained injuries while they were trapped in a basement.

Injuries were also reported in New Taipei City’s Gongliao （貢寮） and Shimen districts. The former involved a truck driver who was hurt after his truck overturned on a coastal highway. In the latter incident a man was injured in a landslide.

As of press time last night, rescuers were still trying to locate two people missing in Keelung and Nantou counties.

In addition, 15 mountain climbers were forced to take shelter at a forest workers’ dormitory in Shei-Pa National Park （雪霸國家公園） due to the rising level of a creek making it impossible to cross.

Incessant rainfall also caused 11 houses in Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan and Lioukuei （六龜） districts to collapse and be carried away by a river yesterday afternoon. No one was killed or injured, as the residents had evacuated in time.

The nation yesterday began to gradually resume normal road, rail and air transport operations. In total, 20 domestic flights were canceled and five were delayed. Two international flights were delayed.

In addition, eight road sections on provincial highways No. 8, No. 14, No. 20, No. 24 and No. 29 remained closed to traffic yesterday due to road damage caused by landslides.

The front will gradually move away from Taiwan today, although chances of heavy or extremely heavy rainfall are still high across the nation, the bureau said.

Cloudy skies are forecast from tomorrow through Thursday, although chances for afternoon storms remain high in some regions.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES