Скачать или смотреть Minor floods in Pingtung and Kaohsiung as a strong plum rain front hits

Extremely heavy rain made for a damp Friday across Taiwan, with minor flooding in some central and southern regions. The highest rainfall was recorded at Pingtung''s Chunri Township, where almost 500 millimeters fell in one day. On Saturday morning, the rain is expected to gradually ease up, but not much. Meteorologists say balmy weather won''t be back until Thursday next week.

As cars pass, the spray is as high as a person. Daren East Street, in front of Pingtung’s Tajen University, is flooded.

A nearby street is like a waterfall. This delivery man had to turn around halfway.

Similar scenes here at Fengren?仁 Road in Kaohsiung’s Renwu仁武 Township. The slow lane was half flooded, forcing vehicles out into the middle of the road, straddling the fast lane. People trying to get to work on their scooters were forced to stop on the verge.

Some resorted to walking their bike through the flood, afraid it could be damaged if they tried to ride on. Others took their chances with the cars in the fast lane. On nearby Renguang Road, residents were up at 4 a.m. erecting flood defenses.

The southwest monsoon and a plum rain front are the rain gods responsible for the chaos. Satellite images show a continuous stream of fairly strong clouds sweeping over the central and southern regions. This unusual streak of purple across the image means heavy rain across Taiwan.

Wu Wan-hua
CWB forecaster
We have intermittent but strong gusts of air and rain clouds that come in with the plum rain front, one after another. We can see the southwest, and upwind over here, it’s covered by a strong air current and cloud system. This system will have its most obvious impact in the daytime on Friday.

It’s this current that could cause serious damage. In 2009, a southwesterly storm called Typhoon Morakot caused catastrophic flooding. Again in 2018, a tropical low pressure system brought in dangerous torrential rain.

Wu Wan-hua
CWB forecaster
In the center and to the south, the rain will intensify, especially in Pingtung. Since yesterday until now, many regions have had hourly precipitation of 40 mm or more, the highest hourly rainfall being 81 mm in Sandimen Township, Pingtung.

But forecasters say that Friday was the worst this front has to offer. From the early hours of Saturday, the driving rain will ease up a little, although heavy rain spells will still appear on and off across the country. Sunny weather is not expected until Thursday next week.