Taiwan – Major Floods After 600 Mm of Rain in 12 Hours – 4,000 Evacuated, 1 Dead, 2 Missing

Huge amounts of rainfall in parts of Taiwan on 02 June resulted in major flooding and mudslides in northern areas of the country. Some areas of New Taipei City recorded more than 600 mm of rain in under 12 hours.

The National Fire Agency said that one person was confirmed dead, five others injured and two remained missing in northern Taiwan as of Friday.

The fatality occurred in the Bali District of New Taipei City, one of the worst hit areas, when a woman on a motorcycle was swept away by flood water. Two people, one in New Taipei City and the other in Keelung, are missing after being swept away by flood water.

Emergency teams were called on to carry out hundreds of flood water rescues and evacuations, including dozens of young children from a flooded kindergarten school in Taipei. In total, around 4,000 people have been evacuated in several areas including Kaohsiung City (3051), New Taipei City (547), Nantou County (7), Chiayi County (77), Taipei City (4) and Tainan City (129).

Hundreds of flights were cancelled due to the heavy rain and Taipei Songshan Airport had to be closed for several hours. A road bridge in New Taipei City was severely damaged by flood water from a swollen river.

Warnings

Further rain is expected, possibly for another 3 days. As of early 03 June (local time) Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau had issued heavy rainfall warnings for many parts of the country.

The National Fire Agency says that Disaster Response Centres have been set up and several rainfall and flood warnings issued, including Level 2 warnings for Keelung City, New Taipei City, Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Hsinchu City, Nantou County, Chiayi County, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City and Hualien County. The higher Level 3 warnings are in place for Taichung City, Pintung County and Taitung County.

Over 600 warnings for potential mud or landslides have also been issued.

Rainfall

According to the Central Weather Bureau, over 100 locations in the country recorded more than 230 mm of rain between early 02 June and early 03 June, 2017.

Some parts of New Taipei City recorded more than 600 mm of rain during the same period. Local observers say that much of the rain fell in an 11 hour period.

Figures below from Taiwan Central Weather Bureau for the period 00:00 hours, 02 June to 01:40 hours 03 June, 2017.

• Sanzhi, Sanzhi District, New Taipei City – 645.5 mm
• Fuguijiao, Shimen District, New Taipei City – 635.5 mm
• WRA-Fuguijiao, Shimen District, New Taipei City – 627.0 mm
• Sanhe, Jinshan District, New Taipei City – 583.5 mm
• Nantianchi, Taoyuan District, Kaohsiung City – 581.0 mm
• Jinshan, Jinshan District, New Taipei City – 549.5 mm
• Alishan, Alishan Township, Chiayi County – 485.0 mm
• Wanliguoxia, Wanli District, New Taipei City – 442.0 mm
• Shenmu Village, Xinyi Township, Nantou County – 427.5 mm
• Meishan, Taoyuan District, Kaohsiung City – 411.0 mm

Social Media

The taxi was submerged in Taiwan and then the passenger escaped.#Taiwan #flood #flooding #floodwaterhttps://t.co/rAFgsnto3s pic.twitter.com/A122DP4e1q

— 蔡承融 (@SaiShouYuu) June 2, 2017

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