Taitung is last to announce typhoon holiday in Taiwan

2026-10-23

At first, Taitung was the only county in all of Taiwan proper that didn’t announce a typhoon holiday, leading to the County Commissioner April Yao’s Facebook being flooded with comments. It wasn’t until 6am this morning, that the Taitung County Government reversed their decision and announced emergency suspension of schools and workplaces. They claimed the typhoon’s path had changed and would last longer than anticipated.

-Didn’t you hear that today is a holiday?
You didn’t know? Haha

Like many students in Taitung, when this middle schooler heard this morning that schools were closed for the typhoon, he threw his arms in the air and danced. The news however comes as a late surprise.

- Is there a possibility to have a holiday?
- No, what are you guys thinking?

Taitung was the last county in all of the island of Taiwan to announce a typhoon holiday; the county government didn’t think that an abrupt announcement at 6am would catch the locals off guard.

Store owner
Taitung Market vendor
Our jobs require us to go out in the middle of the night; the winds are very strong at that hour making it nearly impossible to ride your motorcycle. The entire road is filled with dirt, flying everywhere. They aren’t prioritizing the safety of the locals, it’s not that I’m angry; I just think they are incompetent.

Member of public
Worries for long distance travelers
For those who have to travel far or those who already set out, and then hear it’s a holiday, it’s quite inconvenient.

Wang Chih-hui
Taitung County Deputy Commissioner
Until yesterday evening, the Central Weather Administration claimed that Taitung would see no rains. It wasn’t until 4 or 5am this morning that they updated their claims because the typhoon’s path was changing

Taitung County Government altered their decision due to the typhoon’s changing path, since the winds in the morning were not strong, and only a few trees had fallen over, they were not sure a holiday was warranted, which has sparked discussions.

Wang Chih-hui
Taitung County Deputy Commisioner
Yesterday evening, our decision was primarily that the wind speeds hitting Taitung were around 4 on the Beaufort scale, but this morning with updated information, it suggested the wind speeds in Taitung remained at or above 6 all day.

As Austin Wang, an associate professor in Political Science, writes for The New York Times, the likelihood a mayor announces a typhoon holiday increases by 31% during an election year. Typhoons holidays remain a hot topic and with just some 30 days until the election, it seems typhoon winds are stirring up politics as well.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#champi #typhoon #austinwang #politics #taiwan

台東清晨6點急宣布停班課台東縣府:颱風路徑修正

2026-10-23

薔琵颱風，本來台東縣是全台唯一沒放颱風假的縣市，讓縣長饒慶鈴臉書被罵爆，沒想到今天一早六點，台東縣府大轉彎，緊急宣布停班停課，台東縣副縣長解釋，是因為颱風路徑修正，滯留時間延長。放假與否完全是依據中央氣象署及各國預測資料進行科學判斷。

- 你沒有接到消息說今天要停課嗎?
不知道? 哈哈

台東國中生聽到停課，忍不住手舞足蹈，因為前一天饒縣長是這樣說的。

- 有機會放假嗎
- 沒有，你們在想什麼?

縣長斬釘截鐵，台東成了全台灣唯一沒放颱風假的縣市，沒想到今天一早大轉彎，饒慶鈴在凌晨6點宣布放假，讓不少民眾來不及反應。

[[台東市場攤商]]
“我們這個工作都是半夜要出門，半夜那時候風正大，那個摩托車幾乎根本沒有辦法騎，整條路都是風飛沙，那個民眾的安全根本就沒有放在心裡，憤怒是不至於啦，就覺得無能啦”

[[民眾]]
“如果要出遠門的或已經出遠門的，又放假了，這樣子的話也是很不方便”

[[台東縣副縣長王志輝]]
“一直到昨天晚上以前，其實中央氣象署顯示的資料當中，其實台東是沒有什麼雨，到今天早上大概四、五點，中央氣象署已經把所有的資料更新了，因為研判整個颱風路徑往台灣這方向偏過來，並且這個滯留時間也會延長”

台東縣府解釋，決策關鍵在於颱風路徑修正，只是一早台東其實風雨不大，只有零星樹倒災情，這假該不該放？也掀起討論。

[[台東縣副縣長王志輝]]
“在昨天晚上的時候，我們得到的資訊，整個台東大部分地區的風力，大概都是在四級左右，但是今天早上的資料顯示，整個台東地區的風力，幾乎整天都在六級以上”

政治颱風假又成為焦點，加上再30幾天就要選舉，紐時報導，政治學教授王宏恩分析，選舉年放颱風假可能性增加31%，看來除了颱風走向，地方首長還得好好評估政治風向。

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

Green Island, Orchid Island battered by Typhoon Champi

Typhoon Champi is unleashing a powerful assault on Taiwan’s outlying islands, with towering waves smashing into homes, flooding businesses and tearing apart coastal roads. On Green Island, one grocery store alone suffered an estimated NT$700,000 in damage. Meanwhile, on Orchid Island, massive boulders and driftwood were swept onto roads and parts of a seawall were destroyed. Even without heavy rain, the sheer force of the sea has left residents facing a major cleanup.

- The wave smashed against the entrance. Oh god. It’s terrible.

A local representative woke up to a terrifying sight: rubble and bricks covering the ground at the entrance to the village. Tall and powerful waves battered the area, denting gates and vehicles. Green Island was among the first places to feel the impact of Champi, which devastated Wenquan village. The waves even broke windows and sent water flooding into homes.

- Oh my god. What a wreck.

The window at this store is gone. The shelves and refrigerators inside all lie in a pile as if it were a dump. Damage is estimated at NT$700,000.

Hsieh Hsien-yu
Green Island Township Head
We should consider raising the seawall. The coast is beautiful, but people’s lives and property are more important than sightseeing.

The front row of houses has become a disaster zone. Over on Orchid Island, the situation isn’t much better. Seawater completely flooded a stretch of Huandao Road near Jikarahem, filling the asphalt with rocks and driftwood. Part of the seawall has been destroyed.

At Iraraley, tall waves swallowed up the breakwater, endangering vehicles parked nearby. The force of the sea washed up rocks onto the road, disrupting traffic.

Voice of Hsieh Ming-chih
Head of Iraraley
It’s all chunks from the reef. Some of them weigh half a ton. Some of the bigger ones can’t be cleared easily, so we had to deploy excavators.

Repairs are underway in the sections of the road that were damaged. Though there was no heavy rain in either island, the strong winds and waves caused considerable damage.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#champi #typhoon #orchidisland #greenisland #waves

2026-10-23

Mourning family accuses borough warden of stealing from deceased

A shocking theft allegation in Miaoli! A family in mourning claims their borough warden slipped into the home of the deceased while the body was still there to steal valuables. More disturbingly, the widow was right there and watched helplessly, as she suffers from dementia and is unable to speak. The warden vehemently denies stealing anything, insisting he was simply helping tidy up because the deceased was his brother-in-law. He’s now firing back, claiming the accusations are nothing more than a politically motivated smear campaign ahead of the local elections. Let’s hear more.

Voice of family member (anonymized)
Accusing borough warden of theft
The body was still in the house. We were waiting for the funeral transport to take him away. That’s when he came and stole the stuff. We thought he was just coming to offer his condolences, as wardens do. We had no idea he was trying to get our foreign caregiver out of the way by telling her to go do things.

Borough Warden
Accused of theft
The deceased was my brother-in-law. I called his kids, and told them that I’d take care of things. The table was very messy, so I grabbed a bag and straightened things out. The person accusing me of theft was actually a classmate of my election opponent.

- He said the widow was his sister.

Voice of family member (anonymized)
Accusing borough warden of theft
They’re not actually siblings-in-law, they’re cousins-in-law. He even knelt down and begged my brother and me to withdraw the lawsuit. He told prosecutors that he didn’t steal anything. But if he really didn’t steal anything, why would he feel like he needs to kneel down and beg us?

Lin Meng-kuan
Police officer
We identified the suspect and seized the relevant evidence. The case has been referred to the Miaoli District Prosecutors Office on suspicion of theft.

The incident reportedly took place earlier this month at a home in Tongxiao. It all came to light after the family could not find reading glasses of the deceased. That prompted the family to check surveillance footage, which is when they found the borough warden had entered the home. They later realized that there was five or six items missing, with a combined value of more than NT$10,000 in total. The warden maintains his innocence and claims the allegations are politically motivated. With both sides offering conflicting accounts, the truth will have to be determined through the legal process.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#theft #boroughwarden #shocking #mourning #slick

2026-10-23

Taitung is last to announce typhoon holiday in Taiwan