Tens of thousands still without water, power in wake of Typhoon Gaemi

Taipei, July 25 (CNA) Over 11,000 households were without water and 64,000 still had no electricity across Taiwan as of 5 p.m. Thursday in the wake of Typhoon Gaemi, according to Taiwan Water Corporation (TWC) and Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower).

The TWC said in a Thursday news statement that the typhoon left 55,464 households without water. Supply was restored to 44,306 by late Thursday with staff continuing to work on the remaining 11,158 households as of press time, the TWC said.

Of those households, 495 are located in Taichung's Heping District, where roads have been blocked due to rock falls. TWC staff will continue work to restore the water supply as soon as the wind and rain subside, the TWC said.

The heavy precipitation has increased the turbidity of unprocessed raw water, especially in southern Taiwan, resulting in emergency measures being introduced to stabilize the water supply in each region, said TWC.

Meanwhile, Taipower said that a total of 747,122 households experienced power outages due to the typhoon, with supply restored to 683,172 as of 5 p.m. Thursday.

The households still without electricity are mainly located in southern Taiwan, with 28,056 in Kaohsiung, as well as more than 7,000 each in Pingtung and Chiayi Counties, according to Taipower.

Taipower has dispatched personnel from far afield, including Taoyuan and Changhua County, to assist with work in more heavily impacted areas, the company said in a statement issued earlier Thursday.

Work to restore electricity supply will continue depending on traffic and weather conditions, and it is hoped power will be restored to 99 percent of affected households by Thursday night, the statement said.

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