Saudel regains tropical storm strength; Pingtung hit hard by rain

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) A tropical depression near Hainan that was once Typhoon Saudel has found new life, intensifying into a tropical storm early Tuesday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.

The CWA said Saudel intensified into a tropical storm at 2 p.m. Tuesday, when it was located over waters northeast of Hainan Island and moving northeast at 22 kilometers per hour.

CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said the storm is expected to move northeastern through Tuesday, turn north on Wednesday, and then weaken back into a tropical depression after approaching China's coast on Thursday.

According to Lee, Saudel will be closest to the Taiwan Strait from late Tuesday through Wednesday.

Though the chance of issuing a sea warning remains low, the CWA said it could not rule out the possibility that Saudel could move closer to the Taiwan Strait and that it would continue to monitor its track.

Meanwhile, another tropical storm, Krovanh, formed over waters southeast of the Ryukyu Islands at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Lee said Krovanh is expected to move toward Japan and will have no direct impact on Taiwan. As it moves north, however, it could alter wind patterns around Taiwan and shift the areas receiving rainfall.

Taiwan remained under the influence of a low-pressure system Tuesday, with strong southwesterly winds bringing significant rainfall to areas south of Chiayi County.

Southern Taiwan should brace for localized extremely heavy rain, while Hualien and Taitung could also see heavy rain and northern Taiwan could experience thunderstorms and short-duration heavy rainfall in the afternoon.

Beginning Tuesday night, the winds are expected to shift from southwesterly to southerly, which should ease rainfall over western Taiwan, according to the CWA.

Southern Taiwan, however, will continue to see brief showers and thunderstorms, while Taitung is expected to receive the heaviest rainfall from Tuesday night through Wednesday, with localized extremely heavy rain possible.

On Wednesday, significant rainfall is expected in southern and eastern Taiwan, with localized extremely heavy rain possible in Taitung County and localized heavy rain in southern Taiwan and Hualien County.

Mountainous areas are also expected to receive heavy rainfall in the afternoon.

The rainfall in the Taitung is forecast to ease slightly on Thursday, but western Taiwan and Yilan County in northeastern Taiwan could still face localized heavy rain, the CWA said.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's southernmost administrative district, Pingtung County, has been the hardest hit by heavy rain resulting from the low-pressure system in the past day and a half.

According to CWA data, the top 16 rainfall totals in Taiwan between midnight Sunday and 3 p.m. Tuesday were in Pingtung County.

In response, the Pingtung County government elevated the alert level of its emergency operations center to the lowest Level 3. As a precaution, offices and schools in Shiwen Village in Chunri Township and Changle Village in Manzhou Township were closed Tuesday.

The county government has also been evacuating residents from mountainous areas since Monday. As of 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, a total of 226 people had been evacuated, including 138 from Chunri Township and 88 from Manzhou Township.

(By Chang Hsiung-feng, Li Hui-ting and Lee Chieh-yu) enditem/ls