TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Even though Taiwan ended land and sea warnings for Typhoon Khanun on Friday (Aug. 4), heavy rain in Nantou County caused landslides and rockfalls.
Several mountainous areas, including Alishan in Chiayi County, Heping District in Taichung City, and Renai Township in Nantou County closed schools and offices on Friday due to dangerous weather conditions. Earlier, the mountainous districts of Jiaxian, Liugui, Taoyuan, Maolin, and Namaxia in Kaohsiung, and Green Island and Orchid Island in Taitung County had also announced school and office closures.
Renai was hit by several mudslides and rockfalls amid extreme torrential rain advisories from the Central Weather Bureau. Flood warnings were also in effect as 126 millimeters of rain fell within three hours, per CNA.
In one location, a truck became half buried under the rocks and mud flowing down the hillside. The driver escaped unharmed, and the road was sealed off to further traffic.
A popular destination in the township, Qingjing Farm, closed its doors due to fallen trees, flooding, and mud covering its parking lot. Roads to the farm were also damaged, with traffic only possible in one direction.
In Kaohsiung's Taoyuan District, the makeshift Minbaklu Bridge on the Southern Cross-Island Highway was damaged by rocks and mud swept away by the river following landslides upstream. Nobody was injured because the bridge had been closed off the night before as a precaution, CNA reported.