Drenched with torrential rains, south Taiwanese have just about had it with the ineptitude of their politicians at managing natural disasters.
The News Lens
Date: 2018/08/29
By: Eryk Smith
Photo Credit: Tsai Ing-wen Facebook
Being a tropical city, Taiwan’s southern metropolis of Kaohsiung does have its ‘monsoon’ or rainy season. But it generally consists of a month or so of off-again on-again cloudbursts, which usually taper off after perhaps a half-hour of torrential rain. Of course, the south of Taiwan is also occasionally treated to massive typhoons.
Naturally, every year’s cycle is different, and when the wheel of fortune hits a heavy rainy season, that year has traditionally featured flooding.
South Taiwan’s recent lucky streak came to an end on August 23, when heavy winds and unrelenting torrential rains brought back the bad old days. Homes across the region flooded and three motorcyclists sadly lost their lives when a scaffolding collapsed. Planes diverted or were forced to make unscheduled landings in Kaohsiung. The city cancelled work and classes the following day, and social media and TV news featured non-stop images of damage and suffering.
Considering that Kaohsiung is the largest city in Taiwan by area, with boundaries including low-lying downtown areas near rivers (Yancheng District) as well as thousand-meter high untamed mountain regions (Namaxia and Taoyuan Districts), it is no surprise that flooding is hard to control. Some districts had, or have, become accustomed to it. Residents of some first-floor dwellings splash out NT$200,000 or more for metal, water-tight panel barriers that can stop floods of over 100 centimeters – when they work properly. [FULL STORY]
