Green Island, Orchid Island battered by Typhoon Champi

2026-10-23

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

蘭嶼掀巨浪沖毀海堤綠島大浪沖破民宅滿目瘡痍

2026-10-23

薔琵颱風強勢來襲，加上東北季風影響，綠島、蘭嶼災情不斷。綠島溫泉聚落損失慘重，海浪侵襲沿海住宅，鐵門被磚頭砸出凹痕，雜貨店更是連內部都泡爛。蘭嶼朗島村，以及五孔洞環島公路，巨浪衝過海堤，路面都是石頭和浮木，滿目瘡痍，甚至連海堤都被沖毀。

-這個浪頂打到打到門口，我的天啊太恐怖了

當地民代嚇死了，一覺醒來，門口全是碎石和磚頭，岸際掀起長浪，一路打到聚落門口，不少民宅的鐵門、貨車都留下凹痕。薔琵颱風逼近，綠島首當其衝，溫泉聚落滿目瘡痍，不僅路上被海浪沖的一團遭，大浪還破窗，衝到屋內。

-我的天啊，全部都擠進來

雜貨舖窗戶消失，貨架、冰箱擠成一坨，彷彿垃圾場，預估損失七十多萬。

[[綠島鄉長謝賢裕]]
“可能要思考把這個海邊的防波堤加高，不要因為海岸線很漂亮，但是人民的生命財產安全，可能比觀景還重要。”

海景第一排的颱風搖滾區，除了綠島外，蘭嶼的情況也沒好到哪裡去，五孔洞環島公路更是發生海水倒灌，路上滿是石頭和浮木，連海堤也被沖毀。

朗島村遭到海浪侵襲，數公尺高的巨浪吞沒防波堤，附近停放的車輛也岌岌可危。礁石被沖上路面，交通一度受阻。

[[聲源:蘭嶼朗島村長謝明智]]
“全部都是大礁石，有的半噸啦，有的比較大一點的石頭，那種的都沒有辦法清，所以都要用挖土機去處理。

封閉路段現在正在全力搶修，這回颱風來襲，綠島蘭嶼雖沒下雨，但風力強勁，海浪威力，仍帶給當地居民不小的損失。

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

Taitung is last to announce typhoon holiday in Taiwan

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

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

Green Island, Orchid Island battered by Typhoon Champi