Taipei: A manhole cover on a Taipei road was blown off during a heavy downpour Sunday, leaving a hole in the roadway that caused flat tires in three passing vehicles, though no injuries were reported, according to the Taipei City Office of Disaster Management.

According to Focus Taiwan, police responding to the scene on Section 1 of Huanhe North Road found that intense rainfall created a sudden build-up of pressure under the manhole cover, causing it to be blown off. The incident resulted in three vehicles sustaining flat tires after driving over the resulting hole in the road surface.

The city's Sewerage Systems Office promptly replaced the manhole cover at 4:36 p.m., and police confirmed that traffic had returned to normal before leaving the scene. Meanwhile, in a separate incident, police were dispatched to Bailing Bridge after a public report via the city's 1999 hotline indicated that floodwater on the roadway had reached tire level. Responders later confirmed that the flooding had subsided and traffic was flowing normally.

The Taipei City Office of Disaster Management stated that the city's Hydraulic Engineering Office activated a monitoring team at 1 p.m. and placed a mobile water pump on standby for emergency response. Additionally, an emergency response team was established after rainfall exceeded 40 millimeters in Taipei's Zhongzheng, Shilin, Beitou, Datong, and Wanhua districts to coordinate cross-agency disaster response efforts.