Schools, offices to close in rain-battered southern areas Thursday

Taipei, July 9 (CNA) Local governments in Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County have announced school and office closures in several rain-affected districts and townships on Thursday, following forecasts of up to 400 millimeters of rainfall in southern Taiwan over the next 24 hours.

Schools and government offices will be closed Thursday in 12 districts of Tainan, five mountainous districts of Kaohsiung, and nine townships in Pingtung, according to announcements by the three local governments.

The 12 districts in Tainan are Xinying, Yanshui, Liuying, Houbi, Dongshan, Baihe, Beimen, Jiangjun, Xuejia, Qigu, Xigang and Jiali, where the city government said some local residents are still facing power outages after Typhoon Danas struck southern Taiwan over the weekend.

The Tainan City government cited the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast issued at 7 p.m. Wednesday for rainfall across Taiwan over the following 24 hours, which warns of heavy downpours caused by two low pressure systems around Taiwan, including one downgraded from Danas.

The CWA forecast 200-340 mm of rainfall for all of Tainan, and low-lying areas in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County until 7 p.m. Thursday, and 250-400 mm for mountainous areas in Kaohsiung and Pingtung during the same 24-hour period.

Meanwhile, the Pingtung County government said in a statement that the southernmost county has been hit by rain for days since Danas moved over Taiwan from the south.

Schools and government offices in the mountainous townships of Wutai, Sandimen, Majia, Laiyi, Taiwu, Chunri, Shizi, Mudan and Manzhou will be closed Thursday as a precaution, it said.

The county government said the days of rain could lead to rockfalls and landslides in mountainous areas, as warned by the CWA.

Based on the same concerns over heavy rain-caused disasters, schools and government offices in Kaohsiung's Taoyuan, Namaxia, Maolin, Liugui and Jiaxian districts will be closed Thursday, the city government said.

As of 4:40 p.m. Wednesday, 897 residents had been evacuated from mountainous areas in Kaohsiung, according to the city government, which also warned about possible flooding in coastal areas on Thursday.