Hsinchu mayors slammed for late decision to suspend work and classes

Hsinchu mayors slammed for late decision to suspend work and classes

2026-06-26

Residents in Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are furious at their mayors for only announcing the suspension of work and classes around noon, when the heavy downpours had already caused severe flooding in many parts of the region. For example, a scooter driver slipped and got washed down the road, while a residential building got flooded when water poured through a window.

A scary moment unfolded in front of Guangfu Junior High in Hsinchu, as a scooter rider was knocked down and swept away—along with his vehicle—by the raging muddy water.

It’s heavily flooded on Guangfu Road, and the water is flowing quickly. Crossing the street is like wading through a stream for these kids. Some even needed a helping hand from the traffic police.

At this residential building, floodwater from the courtyard poured in as soon as a window was opened, likely the result of a clogged drain.

As the rain poured down, tiny cascades broke through a red brick wall and sputtered outward. Nearby, an underground walkway had completely flooded, as had other parts of town.

Local resident
Hsinchu
The streets were shoddily patched together. If you add what’s over there, it was about this high before. The road surface should be elevated. The more work they do, the worse it gets.

- 8:30.
- It started flooding at 8:30?
- Of course I’m worried. I can’t even bother to sweep the water. I’ll do it when it subsides a bit.

Local residents are baffled as to why their mayors did not call off work and classes with such heavy rainfall. On Friday morning, Zhubei City Mayor Cheng Chao-fang announced that his town would suspend work and classes after midday. He also wrote that he only learnt at 8:50 a.m. from county Commissioner Yang Wen-ke’s Facebook page that the county government had authorized individual townships to call off work and classes at their own discretion.

Netizens flooded Yang Wen-ke’s post to slam him, accusing him of shirking his responsibilities. One user commented, "The county government failed to make a decision and didn’t even notify grassroots staff. Does the commissioner think he can just pass the buck with a single Facebook post?" After all, residents were already furious after risking the floodwaters to get to work first thing in the morning.

Local borough wardens have been busy all morning inspecting damages.

Hung Yen-ching
Beilun Borough warden, Zhubei
Really heavy. The rainfall was really, really heavy. Has this ever happened? Yes, around eight years ago. Good thing that we’d just cleared the sewages. But the rain was simply too heavy. There’s no way to drain the water that quickly.

Before the day began, the more remote townships of Wufeng and Jianshi had already suspended work and classes for the day. Later, Zhubei, Guanxi, Xinpu, Hukou, Qionglin and others followed. At 11 a.m., Hsinchu City Mayor Ann Kao made her announcement on Facebook, starting suspensions at 12 p.m. Local residents would rather have the announcement made earlier.

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#rain #weather #heavyrain #downpour #flood