Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) Eighty-five people were still trapped in Nantou’s mountainous Renai Township, mainly in the Lushan hot spring area, as of Monday night, in the wake of torrential rain and landslides caused by Typhoon Khanun, according to the National Fire Agency.
The 85 people were still stranded at three resorts as a result of road disruptions after 22 people, including a pregnant woman, were brought to safety from the Lushan area earlier Monday, agency data showed.
The agency said 500 kilograms of supplies were transported by helicopter to the area on Monday morning after it had run out of food and water and had its electricity cut off.
The Nantou Fire Bureau said all of the tourists visiting the area have been evacuated and were being sheltered at National Taiwan University’s Highland Experimental Farm, and that those remaining were mostly local residents, B&B operators, and foreign migrant workers.
The rescue mission to evacuate those remaining will continue Tuesday, the bureau said.
Among those already evacuated was a couple from Singapore on their honeymoon, who said they would visit Taiwan again despite their ordeal because the B&B operator took good care of them while they were stuck in the Lushan resort area starting on Aug. 1.
A Taiwanese woman from Kaohsiung surnamed Tseng (曾), who stayed at the same B&B as the Singaporean husband and wife, voiced the same opinion and thanked the B&B owner because they were not charged for food or accommodation.
Meanwhile, search teams have established contact with a hiker who went missing near Ganzhuowan Mountain in Renai Township on July 29, confirming that he was safe and would get to the local police station soon.
As traffic on several major roads within the township remained disrupted, the Nantou County government announced that schools and offices in the township would remain closed on Tuesday.
Members of the public were also asked not to visit Renai Township in the short term, as traffic on several sections of provincial highways No. 14 and No. 14A (which goes to Hehuanshan) cut off by mudslides and rockslides has yet to be restored.
Meanwhile, three Indigenous villages in Kaohsiung’s mountainous Taoyuan District, Fushing, Lafuran and Meishan — were also isolated by traffic disruptions caused by Typhoon Khanun, with 414 individuals stuck, the agency said.
People in those villages were not facing any immediate danger, however, because there was enough food and water to last them another two weeks, the agency said.
It was reported that Typhoon Khanun dumped more than 1,000 millimeters of rain on the rural and mainly Indigenous Renai Township on Aug. 3 and 4, triggering mudslides that buried a gas station and blocked several sections on provincial highways No. 14 and 14A, as well as county roads No. 71, No. 83, No. 85 and No. 89.
Work to reopen the damaged roads and restore basic services to the area is still ongoing.
➤ Nantou’s Ren-ai Towship announced school and government office closures on Tuesday.
➤ For the latest information on school or office closures, please check the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration’s website.
Aug. 7: Typhoon-triggered rains ease water supply issues in southern Taiwan
Aug. 6: NASC helicopters deployed for disaster aid in typhoon-hit Nantou areas
Aug. 6: Typhoon Khanun agricultural losses estimated at NT$128 million
Aug. 5: Mudslides bury gas station; hotel at risk of collapsing in wake of typhoon
Aug. 5: Hundreds stranded in central, southern Taiwan in wake of Typhoon Khanun
Aug. 5: Kaohsiung residents evacuated due to torrential rain
Aug. 4: Typhoon Khanun damages infrastructure across central, southern Taiwan
Aug. 3: Central, southern Taiwan to see consecutive days of rain from Friday
