CWB lifts land, sea warnings for Tropical Storm Bailu

Taipei, Aug. 25 (CNA) The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) has lifted its land and sea warnings for Tropical Storm Bailu, which swept through southern Taiwan on Saturday, but warned that parts of Taiwan could still see heavy rainfall.

The CWB lifted its land warning for Bailu at 8:30 a.m. Sunday and its sea warning at 11:30 a.m., saying that it was no longer a threat to Taiwan as it was moving in a west-northwest direction and was expected to weaken to a tropical depression.

Due to the peripheral effects of the storm, however, heavy rain will continue to affect Tainan and Kaohsiung in the south, Yilan and Hualien in the east, and the offshore counties of Penghu and Kinmen, the bureau said.

It also issued an extremely heavy rain warning for Taitung and Pingtung.

According to the CWB's rain warning definitions, heavy rain means accumulated rainfall of 80 millimeters or more within 24 hours or rainfall of 40 mm or more in an hour, while extremely heavy rain refers to 200 millimeters of rainfall over 24 hours and 100 mm of rainfall in a three-hour period.

As of 9 a.m., Bailu had resulted in one death and nine injuries, according to statistics of the Central Emergency Operation Center.

An 18-year-old man was killed after crashing into a falling tree on the sidewalk while riding a scooter in Annan District in Tainan late Saturday night.

Two scooter riders in Tainan and two pedestrians in Nantou were also injured by falling trees on the sidewalk, according to the center.

Due to the storm, power outages were reported in eastern and southern Taiwan on Saturday, affecting 117,055 households.

As of Sunday morning, 1,328 households in Taitung, Hualien, Pingtung and Chiayi were still without power, and they were not expected to have their power restored until 5 p.m. Sunday, according to the center.

Meanwhile, landslides and mudslides caused by heavy rainfall brought by the storm forced closures of parts on at least five roads, including a section between Tianhsiang and Dayuling on Provincial Highway No. 8, which cuts across central Taiwan through the Central Mountain Range.

Those roads were expected to be reopened by Monday at noon.

The storm inundated parts of eastern Taiwan with "torrential" or "extreme torrential rain," dumping more than 600 mm of rain Saturday on Liushidan Mountain (Sixty Stone Mountain) in Fuli Township in Hualien.

The mountain, situated at an elevation of around 700-900 meters, is famous for its massive, 800-hectare daylily field.

Extreme torrential rain is defined as accumulated rainfall of more than 500mm over 24 hours, and torrential rain means more than 350mm in 24 hours, according to the CWB's definitions.

As a result of mudslides triggered by downpours, the roads leading to the mountain have been blocked, and agricultural damage and losses were also reported in the county.