Disaster response center disbands as Krathon clean-up winds down

Taipei, Oct. 6 (CNA) The mechanisms set up by the Central Disaster Response Center (CDRC) to deal with Typhoon Krathon's effects were disbanded at 6 p.m. on Sunday, indicating that the most serious impacts of the storm have passed despite recovery work continuing in parts of Taiwan.

According to the 22nd meeting of the CDRC held on Sunday, Typhoon Krathon killed four and injured 719 people in Taiwan since forming in late September.

As of 4 p.m. on Sunday, 9,499 disaster-related incidents had been reported, while one person remains missing.

Environmental clean-up work was still underway on Sunday evening in Keelung and New Taipei in northern Taiwan, where sudden and heavy rainfall caused localized flooding.

Clean-up work was also continuing in other areas of the country, including southern Taiwan's Pingtung County and the city of Kaohsiung, where the typhoon made landfall on Thursday with maximum sustained winds of 126 kilometers per hour (kph) and gusts of up to 162 kph.

In addition, environmental clean-up work was ongoing in outlying Kinmen County, according to the CDRC.

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) on Sunday, 435,634 households experienced temporary power outages as a result of Typhoon Krathon.

Despite rapidly weakening after making landfall, the storm continued to cause destruction as a low-pressure weather system marked by heavy rainfall.

Around 800 households in Kaohsiung remain cut off from the grid as of Sunday evening, though normal power supply is expected to resume by midnight, the MOEA said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture reported that total agricultural losses due to the typhoon amounted to NT$388.14 million (around US$12 million), of which NT$238.63 million (61 percent) occurred in Pingtung County and NT$88.96 million (23 percent) in Kaohsiung.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare also said that 10 shelters were operating in Keelung City, Taitung County and Pingtung County, providing refuge for 243 people as of 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications reported that landslides on Provincial Highway 2A in New Taipei's Jinshan District caused a complete blockage of traffic, though two-way traffic is expected to resume by 7 a.m. on Monday.

At the end of the 22nd meeting of the CDRC held on Sunday, Deputy Agriculture Minister Huang Chao-chin (黃昭欽), in his role as deputy commander of the central response team, said that while the central response mechanisms would be disbanded at 6 p.m. on Sunday, various ministries and agencies would continue work to help Taiwan return to full normality.