The upcoming Wan An air raid drills are set to have stricter protocols for evacuation. People may be asked to evacuate private vehicles for the first time.
The drills are an annual exercise to help prepare the nation’s readiness in the event of an air raid.
This year, they will take place on different days between July 25 and July 28 in different locations around Taiwan. But all of them will run from 1:30 to 2 p.m.
When the drills begin, everyone driving needs to stop and park their car, except people on highways. But this year, people in three neighborhoods will also be asked to leave their vehicles to go to air raid shelters. Those neighborhoods are in Taipei, Taichung and Tainan. Officials are calling on the public to cooperate with the drills or risk being fined between NT$30,000 (US$1,000) to NT$150,000 (US$5,000).
Taiwan has a total of 105,000 bomb shelters. People can use the Police Administrative Service App to find the nearest shelter.
In northern Taiwan, the air raid drill will take place on July 25 in Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Yilan, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu.
The drill will run in central Taiwan on July 26 in Taichung, Chiayi, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin and Chiayi.
The drills take place in southern Taiwan on July 27 in Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County.
On July 28, the air raid drills will be held in Hualien, Taitung, Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties