The Dramatic Rainy Weather Has Caused Southern Taiwan Problems

On September 06, 2016

by Sunny Fang

It was already six o’clock at night. Kaitlyn, a seventh grader who lives in Tainan and attends Kaohsiung American School (KAS), just arrived Tainan Train Station and got on her mom’s car. The car drivers, driving towards their destination with anxiety in the heavy rain, didn’t notice how they just put themselves in danger.

Since late August, the abnormal stormy weather has been affecting southern Taiwan in both positive and negative ways. Regions including Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung were all struck by heavy loads of rain. As the rain brought benefits such as increasing the amount of water in the reservoir to enable us to use on our daily basis, it also caused problems such as flooding and traffic jam.

Traffic Jam

Did the pouring rain directly cause the traffic jam? Unlikely. People drive their cars more often, and car accidents usually happen with a higher frequency during rainy days. Kaitlyn, as a bystander, claimed to witness at least TWO car accidents on her way home, which is a drive that took around fifteen minutes. “During rainy days, people often drive faster to reach their destination as soon as possible. The gloomy, dark weather caused us drivers’ visibility to decrease at a very high rate, which makes driving fast even more dangerous,” stated Kaitlyn’s mom, who had driven for decades. Except for the increase in the frequency of people driving cars, the addition of car accidents during rainy days caused driving to take even longer. The accidents often formed obstacles in the middle of the road and block other drivers’ way.

Trudging in the Flood

At low-lying areas, flooding had become another major problem that was caused by the pouring rain. For example, citizens who live in Yongkang, Tainan, described how walking outdoors was a COMPLETE STRUGGLE. They trudged in the muddy flood and went home with their legs soaking wet. On the social media, some people, trying to be fun and cool, showed that they could even swim in the flood, which indicated how deep the water was. The traffic was affected by the flood as well. In Chiayi, for instance, roads were closed due to the flood as cars had been stuck in the flood and couldn’t proceed.

The Peculiar Weather

What occasioned the unexpected stormy weather? Located in the tropical zone, southern Taiwan was affected by the low atmospheric pressure. The pressure caused the typhoon-like weather to continue for at least a week. Within the week, the sky occasionally looked different from usual. On September 5th, 2016, citizens in both Tainan and Kaohsiung claimed to see the abnormal yellowish sky, which was considered as an indication of heavy rain and serious pollution.  

Fortunately, the weather hadn’t caused any severe or vitally dangerous troubles. While the low atmospheric pressure had engendered the unpredicted wild weather in southern Taiwan and had caused various issues, citizens should also be aware of their own safety and make wise choices. The sewer system, on the other hand, is an important aspect for the government to work on in order to lessen the complication brought by the flood.