TAIPEI: Torrential rain yesterday forced the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung to shut schools and offices as floods overwhelmed its sewage system which was severely damaged by gas explosions last month that killed 30 people and injured 300.
Residents rushed to pile up sandbags in the two districts where drainage systems were affected by the blasts but many were marooned by the rising waters. At least 180mm of rain fell yesterday morning following weekend downpours which dumped hundreds of millimetres of rain on the southern city.
“We’ve deployed dozens of water pumps in the two districts hoping they would help drain the water,” a city government official said.
Around 360,000 people live in the two districts, accounting for around 13 percent of the population of Taiwan’s second biggest city. “The flooding over the past few days was caused by the serious damage caused to the sewage systems by the gas explosions,” Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu said.
The July 31 explosions in underground industrial pipelines that cross the city sparked massive fires, leaving trenches running down the middle of some streets and throwing vehicles onto the roofs of buildings several stories high.
Reconstruction work has ground to a virtual standstill due to the flooding and the Central Weather Bureau warned of more downpours across southern Taiwan until tomorrow, raising fears of further floods.
One angry resident told Formosa TV that his home had been flooded several times since last week.
The government and local authorities dispute who bears responsibility for failing to monitor the safety of the pipelines that exploded, as well as who should shoulder the massive reconstruction costs.
The city blames Taiwanese company LCY Chemical Corp for the blasts, saying around 10 tonnes of propene may have leaked from pipelines operated by the firm in the hours before the first blast.
Prosecutors have twice raided the offices of LCY Chemical as part of their investigation into the cause of the accident.
AFP
