Small Towns Evacuated As Heavy Rains Batter Taiwan
Continued heavy rain as Tropical Storm Mekkhala moves away from Taiwan is causing sustained flooding. Several deaths have been recorded in the south while residents in Hualien County are evacuating as a barrier lake threatens to overflow.
Torrential rain has flooded the streets of Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan since Thursday... eventually shutting down work and school in the city.
The flooding has already caused one casualty there—Ms. Huang, a 73-year-old who tripped and fell into a ditch in a farming area... then was swept away in the storm.
HUANG JUI-HUNG, KAOHSIUNG CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT (Kaohsiung, Taiwan)
One person reported missing was found in a large drainage pipe. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ms. Huang is one of several people reported dead from the heavy rain that could last a few more days.
In Hsinchu County, the downpour became a hassle for parents who were suddenly called in to pick up their kids in water reaching over their ankles.
The rain flowed into underground parking lots, and on one flooded street, a woman was found dead outside her car. She told her husband earlier that she became trapped in floodwaters.
In Hualien County on Saturday, residents woke up to evacuation orders... as heavy rain threatened to breach the banks of a barrier lake in the mountains above. Some residents had just returned home after a yellow alert was lifted the previous night.
MS. LI, EVACUEE (Hualien County, Taiwan)
(Today you need to evacuate again.)
OK, no problem. There's no way to avoid it. Safety first.
EVACUEE (Hualien County, Taiwan)
Our elders are over 90 years old. But safety comes first. We have to go.
CHENG CHIEH-JEN, METEOROLOGIST, CENTRAL WEATHER ADMINISTRATION
After the weather front moves north of Taiwan tomorrow, the rain should be less than today's. Precipitation should gradually decrease on Monday, and we'll be back to summer weather after Tuesday.
As the first storm of Taiwan's typhoon season weakens... residents are bracing for a long summer ahead.
