Typhoon Bavi Leaves Trail of Injuries and Damage Across Taiwan

Taipei: Typhoon Bavi left at least 135 people injured across Taiwan before moving away from the island, while the typhoon command center lowered the alert level for a barrier lake on Hualien County's Wanli River on Sunday. The Central Emergency Operations Center (CEOC) reported a total of 3,163 disaster incidents nationwide as of 2 p.m., with the majority involving fallen trees, accounting for 1,426 cases. Public facilities and infrastructure were impacted in 828 instances. According to Focus Taiwan, seven of the injured were foreign nationals. The CEOC highlighted that 15,228 people were evacuated across 14 cities and counties, with 762 individuals remaining in 38 shelters in six cities and counties as of Sunday afternoon. The inflow situation into the barrier lake showed improvement, delaying the anticipated overflow of the natural dam. Consequently, the alert level was downgraded from red to yellow at 4 p.m. The downgrading of the alert signifies that while the immediate risk has lessened, monitoring and access controls remain necessary. The barrier lake's condition has been closely watched, especially after a previous overflow of another barrier lake on nearby Matai'an Creek in September 2025 resulted in at least 19 fatalities and 157 injuries in Hualien County's Guangfu Township. Typhoon Bavi also caused power outages affecting 249,114 households, with electricity restored to all but 2,644 households by Sunday afternoon. Taiwan Railway Corp. announced that train services around Taiwan have returned to normal, although the Alishan Forest Railway's main line between Chiayi and Alishan will remain suspended on Monday due to six landslides and fallen trees along the route. The railway had been preemptively suspended since Friday, and services will only resume once debris is cleared and the track is inspected. Source: Focus Taiwan