Downpours trap 700 in Wuling Farm

DGH officials said that the Xianggu Bridge, part of a major mountainous highway in Hoping Township of Taichung County, had been seriously eroded by lingering downpours, stranding over 700 travelers and service staff in Wuling Farm, a famous mountainous scenic spot popular with local people.

To resolve this, engineers were stepping up their fixing operations, allowing small cars to pass at noon yesterday. In the afternoon, the highway was open again to big buses, the officials said.

There are still another 14 highways, mainly in southern Taiwan, that were damaged by the torrential rains. Among them is the sole highway leading to the popular tourist destination of Alishan in Chiayi County that was damaged by mudslides and falling rocks.

The bridge linking Linyuan Township in Kaohsiung County and Sinyuan Township in Pingtung County, was also closed because of mounting river waters. The bridge was built after collapsing during Typhoon Morakot on August 8, 2009, which swept southern Taiwan with downpours and strong winds.

More than 1,000 residents in the mountainous Wutai Township in the southern county of Pingtung were also caught as the major pavement linking the township and the outside was destroyed by the torrential rains.

In related news, nine Koreans, who were caught by the heavy rains in the mountainous Shan Mei village of the Alishan Township in Chiayi County when trying to attend a church meeting there on Monday, were smoothly sent down the hill safe and sound via the zip line trolley and pulley device yesterday morning.

The nine Koreans, headed by priest Hsu Hsing-chen, were originally scheduled to fly back to South Korea yesterday but might be forced to stay one more day.

After crossing the 200-meter-wide valley safely, all nine Koreans sang songs to express their gratitude to Chiayi County firemen for their assistance, and shook hands with their rescuers.

In sharp contrast, one man and one woman, both employees of a private guest house in Lushan of Jenai Township, Nantou County, became victims of the torrential rains, as their car fell into a 200-meter-deep valley from the Yunlong Bridge of a mountain highway.

In related news, the downpours have caused damages to farmlands in some townships in Tainan County and Yunlin County, as their watermelons, which were to be reaped in one week, were ruined or soaked in water.

Statistics compiled by the Council of Agriculture showed that as of yesterday, there were a total of 304 hectares of farmland damaged by the downpours, with vegetables and peanuts also suffering serious losses, in addition to watermelons and melons.

As a result, the daily vegetable supply in Taipei posted a decline of some 30 percent yesterday, with their wholesale prices surging at least 20 percent.

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