Heavy rains battered Northern Taiwan on Thursday, wreaking havoc during the morning rush hour. Commuters had to contend with flooded roads, cut-off tunnels and inundated metro facilities. Traffic jams appeared across Taipei and New Taipei, triggering complaints on local officials’ Facebook pages.

A scooter sails across the water. In greater Taipei, the morning downpour caught many commuters off guard.

A lake formed on the road near Taishan Station on the Taoyuan Metro. In Wugu District, Shuhong 10th Road was submerged in 8 centimeters of water. At this underpass in Yonghe, a waterfall cascades from the ceiling.

A strong convective cloud system brought heavy rains to Taipei and New Taipei. In Xizhi District, a road near Chongde Elementary School turned into a river. Several scooters parked on the street fell to their side, getting completely submerged.

Su Hung-chieh
Chongde Borough warden
At around 6 o’clock this morning, heavy downpours caused flooding in some areas. Water levels reached 45 to 50 centimeters. It was around the time that many residents were going to work or school, and it wasn’t easy for them to retrieve their scooters. They had to wade through the water, and in some cases they couldn’t even get to their scooters.

At Taipei Main Station, a passage connecting Taiwan Railway to the Taoyuan Metro was flooded with 10 centimeters of water. Cleaning staff tried to clear out the water, as passersby waded across, pulling up on their clothes.

Member of public
It’s crazy! Of course it is. This is a key transport hub and it’s all flooded. It’s shocking.

Over at Wenzhou Street, strong winds topped a large tree. At Section 2 of Zhongyang North Road in Beitou, a car got trapped in a flooded tunnel. Water pumps were deployed to clear out the passage.

Lin Ping-yu
CWA forecaster
There was significant rainfall during the day in the central and northern Taiwan. After midday, and especially in the afternoon, the precipitation will be more pronounced in Southern Taiwan, especially in mountainous areas, as well as Hualien and Taitung. The wet weather will start easing in the evening.

Taipei and New Taipei established a Level Three disaster response center to manage the rains. Even so, online complaints flooded the Facebook pages of local officials. For many drenched commuters, the rains put a damper on the entire day.

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