News
Typhoon restoration work continues
The Central Emergency Operation Center says efforts to repair the damage caused by Typhoon Kong-Tey are ongoing.
The statement comes as more than 8,000 households remain without power and access to several rural communities remains blocked following last week's storm.
According to the center, 8,164 households across Taiwan are still without power and with work to restore electricity expected to wrap-up later today. A total of 965,342 households experienced power outages as the typhoon battered Taiwan and several locations remain cut off due to damage to access roads, which continues to hinder progress in restoring power. Water supplies have been restored to all 63,016 households affected by the storm.
In related news, Premier Cho Jung-tai says authorities are continuing efforts to reach the 150 people stranded near Jianshi Township in Hsinchu County. They have been there since Typhoon Kong-Rey battered the island last week. According to the premier, the government is offering its "full assistance" to local authorities to reach the remote village and efforts to assist them include the military.
The Hsinchu County Fire Bureau has said it had requested a helicopter from the National Fire Agency to deliver relief supplies to the village, access to which was cut off by landslides along the Sima-Kusi Industrial Road. A helicopter dispatched on Sunday was loaded with supplies in Zhudong Township and took off at 13:10, but was forced to turn back due to heavy fog in the mountains. Another airlift to deliver materials to the village is scheduled for this morning.
Meanwhile, the National Air Service Corps has airdropped relief supplies to over 50 residents of remote mountain villages - who have been stranded since landslides caused by Typhoon Kong-Rey cut off access roads last Thursday.
According to Taroko National Park Headquarters, the residents also have no power or phone service and are located in small communities along the Central Cross-Island Highway between Hehuanshan and the Tianxiang Recreation Area.
The National Air Service Corps' Hualien-based Third Branch said it received a request to deliver supplies to around 50 residents who remain stranded in Xibao and Luoshao villages, both in Xiulin Township. It sent Black Hawk helicopter early Sunday from a staging area at Hualien Baseball Stadium, which first dropped 407 kilograms of relief supplies at the Xibao Elementary School.
Another 321 kilograms of supplies was later airdropped in the Luoshao area. Road maintenance crews have been unable to set a schedule for reopening of 13 kilometers of road on the Central Cross-Island Highway between Dayuling and Tianxiang, and Tianxiang and Gekou.
