TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) visited the Central Emergency Operations Center on Sunday to receive a briefing about heavy rainfall in central and southern areas.
Cho also heard from the Central Weather Administration, which reported that significant rainfall is likely to continue Sunday due to southwesterly airflow. The CWA said soil moisture in central and southern mountainous regions has reached critical saturation levels, per UDN.
This raises the risk of slope disasters in six counties and cities: Nantou, Yunlin, Chiayi County, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung. The CWA urged both national and local governments to take necessary precautions.
The CWA added that “red alerts” for landslides in mountainous areas should trigger immediate evacuation, and residents who have already been evacuated should not return home. It also warned that southwest coastal regions, low-lying areas, and flood-prone zones face risks from short-term, heavy rainfall.
Cho said the intensity and volume of rainfall could not be predicted, particularly in mountainous areas, and emphasized the need for close communication with Indigenous communities and local officials to assess conditions.
He said the CWA continues to forecast alarming rainfall levels in central and southern mountain regions and urged municipal governments to remain vigilant. The situation over the next two days remains uncertain, he added, with both central and local governments on high alert.
Once the weather stabilizes, Cho said, cleanup and home reconstruction will begin. A special “Yunlin-Chiayi-Tainan Disaster Command Post” has been established under Minister Without Portfolio Chen Ching-te (陳金德), with Cho calling on all ministries and agencies to support the command post’s efforts.
