Mountainous areas receive over 1,330 mm of rain in 5 days, highest in Taiwan; Premier Cho visits Pingtung for disaster assessment

Pingtung County has experienced unprecedented rainfall, with the Xinmanjia weather station recording over 1,330 millimeters in five days, making it the highest accumulation nationwide. This deluge, driven by a low-pressure trough and strong southwest winds, has led to significant flooding and agricultural losses across the county. In response, Premier Cho Jung-tai is scheduled to visit Pingtung on August 25 to assess the damage and discuss relief efforts.

According to the Central Weather Administration, Xinmanjia in Pingtung's Majia Township recorded 1,339 millimeters of rain from August 20 to the morning of August 25. Taiwu Township followed with 1,265 millimeters, ranking second nationally. Even low-lying plains areas received nearly 1,000 millimeters of rain. Pingtung County Magistrate Chou Chun-mi has been actively surveying the disaster zones and briefed Premier Cho via video conference on August 24, requesting central government support.

During the video conference, Magistrate Chou thanked the central government for its support on major flood control projects but noted that some emergency repairs remain incomplete following the June 25 heavy rains. She urged for accelerated approval of these projects. For agriculture, she requested expedited and generous assistance for farmers to help them recover and replant. Additionally, she appealed for enhanced power grid resilience from Taiwan Power Company in areas prone to electricity outages in indigenous townships.

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thank you for the central government's support for major flood control and water management projects, but after the 0625 heavy rains, there are still scattered emergency projects that have not been repaired. We hope the central government will accelerate approval.

Premier Cho expressed support for the county's requests. He mentioned that the Ministry of Agriculture amended the "Regulations for Assistance with Natural Disasters in Agriculture" in March, increasing relief amounts to protect farmers' rights. Premier Cho is expected to visit Nan-zhou Township on August 25 to inspect damage to bitter melon crops and later visit Lin-lo Township to survey improvements to the Dahu drainage project.

The low-lying Xinlong Village in Fangliao Township is particularly vulnerable to flooding due to insufficient embankment heights along drainage tributaries.

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The Ministry of Agriculture has already amended the 'Agricultural Natural Disaster Relief Regulations' in March this year, increasing the relief amount to protect the rights and interests of farmers and fishermen.