Torrential rain floods roads across Yilan due to storm impact

Taipei, Nov. 11 (CNA) Several townships in Yilan County, northeastern Taiwan were inundated by torrential rainfall triggered by approaching Tropical Storm Fung-Wong on Tuesday, with some roads in low-lying areas submerged under as much as 60 centimeters of water.

In Dongshan Township, sections of the embankment along Ankeng Creek were damaged by heavy rain, coming close to collapse, according to local authorities.

Impacted by the combined effect of the storm's outer bands and seasonal northeasterly winds, Yilan underwent persistent rainfall throughout Tuesday, with Dong'aolin in Nan'ao Township having received 783.5 millimeters of rainfall as of 8:40 p.m., data from the Central Weather Administration (CWA) showed.

Accumulated rainfall reached 660 mm in Dongshan Township, the data indicated.

Heavy rain also caused flooding up to 15 centimeters deep on low-lying roads in Wujie, Su'ao and Luodong townships, while flooding was even worse in parts of Dongshan Township, where water reached depths of at least 60 centimeters, driving the county government to close affected roads.

Meanwhile, a small landslide hit Su'ao's Nanshing Village sent a stream of yellow mud cascading down. Also, Mingui Street in the township was submerged, with the deepest areas reaching up to the shoulder height of an adult, according to the township office.

As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, the center of Tropical Storm Fung-Wong was located about 270 kilometers west-southwest of Cape Eluanbi, Taiwan's southernmost tip, and moving northeast at a speed of 8 kilometers per hour (kph) slowly increasing to 23 kph.

The storm had a radius of 220 km, with maximum sustained winds of 90 kph and gusts reaching 119 kph, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

The storm is gradually weakening as it approaches Taiwan. It is expected to make landfall in southwest Taiwan between Wednesday afternoon and evening before moving back out to sea off Hualien and Taitung counties on Thursday, the CWA forecast.