President Tsai Ing-wen and Premier Lin Chuan have traveled to southern Taiwan to inspect damage left after the passage of Typhoon Meranti. The super typhoon rolled across southern Taiwan on Wednesday, killing one person and injuring 44.
On Thursday, Tsai traveled to Jiadong Township, Pingtung County in the far south of Taiwan. Flooding in the township has left around 600 local residents stranded. Tsai met with residents, who asked the government to dispatch more water pumps and speed up efforts to restore electricity.
In a Facebook post, Tsai wrote that engineers are working to restore electricity and water as quickly as possible. Tsai wrote that the military will help with cleanup efforts in flooded areas, and that the Council of Agriculture will support farmers and fishermen affected by the typhoon.
Meanwhile, Premier Lin Chuan traveled to Kaohsiung on Thursday. Several dozen empty containers were thrown into Kaohsiung’s port during the storm. A number of container ships and fishing boats in the harbor were also cast adrift when their moorings snapped. Lin said that the Port of Kaohsiung has rarely been so strongly affected by a typhoon before.
Lin urged the public to be vigilant as a second typhoon, Typhoon Malakas, approaches Taiwan. The storm is expected to reach Taiwan by Saturday.