Taipei: Schools and government offices will remain closed in Chiayi County on Tuesday, with the closures extending to Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung County, as torrential rain continues to cause heavy flooding in southern Taiwan.
According to Focus Taiwan, the heavy rains are being caused by southwesterly winds and the outer bands of Tropical Storm Co-May, the eighth storm of the 2025 Pacific typhoon season, which was located north of Taiwan and moving towards China on Monday. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) reported that as of 2 p.m. Monday, the storm was centered 700 kilometers east-northeast of Taipei, packing sustained winds of 72 km per hour and gusts of up to 101 kph.
As the storm continued its west-northwesterly path at 31 kph, the CWA indicated that heavy rain could be expected across Taiwan, with torrential downpours in Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung. The CWA’s rain warnings, issued at 7:15 p.m., predicted that these areas could experience accumulated rainfall exceeding 350 millimeters in 24 hours or 200 mm in three hours.
Chiayi and Yunlin counties had already recorded torrential rainfall levels as of that time. With the current weather conditions expected to persist until Wednesday, local governments in Chiayi and Pingtung counties, as well as in Tainan and Kaohsiung cities, have decided to close schools and government offices on Tuesday. However, schools and government offices in Chiayi City will remain open, according to a notice issued before 8 p.m. Monday.
On Monday evening, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai reported that 1,572 residents in mountainous areas of the city had been evacuated due to landslide risks. Taiwan Power Co. stated it had approximately 4,000 workers on standby around Taiwan, including about 800 in Yunlin, Chiayi, and Tainan, equipped with hundreds of water pumps and generators.
Chiayi County and Tainan are still recovering from the impact of heavy rains caused by Typhoon Danas, which made landfall in Chiayi on July 6, taking down more than 2,000 utility poles and damaging power supply infrastructure. On Monday, the Tainan City government announced plans to evacuate residents in homes that were still covered with canvas following rooftop damage during the typhoon.