Typhoon Gaemi has caused 5 deaths and 688 injuries in Taiwan as reported by the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) this Friday. President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) visited Kaohsiung Friday morning to survey damages and announce subsidies for flooded households.
Fatalities include a 64-year-old woman who was struck by a falling tree while riding a scooter in Kaohsiung City, a 45-year-old woman who was struck by large building debris while inside a car in Hualien County, a 78-year old man who fell victim to a landslide while inside his home in Kaohsiung City, a 65-year-old man who fell while making repairs to his home in Tainan City, and a 75-year-old man who collided with a tree on his scooter while returning home from errands in Yunlin County.
The CEOC stated that over 160,000 households experienced water outages, over 800,000 experienced power outages, and over 10,000 instances of general disasters including road tree collapses and landslides were reported. Nearly 7% of the 13,294 people who were evacuated were rescued by firefighters using rubber boats. Among the 688 people injured by the typhoon, the most were in Kaohsiung City, where 228 individuals sustained injuries.
President Lai visited Kaohsiung Friday morning to survey the urban and agricultural damage. Lai said the central government will provide subsidies of NT$20,000 (US$610) to each household that had flooding exceeding 50 centimeters, and NT$10,000 (US$305) to low- and middle-income households that had flooding of less than 50 centimeters.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) announced that the Kaohsiung City Government will offer additional subsidies of NT$15,000 (US$457) to each household that had flooding exceeding 50 centimeters, and NT$5,000 (US$152) to low- and middle-income households that had flooding of less than 50 centimeters.
Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) advises emergency response and repair personnel to tread carefully as flash floods, rockfalls, and landslides could occur as a result of the sudden heavy rains. Liu is overseeing that relevant ministries are coordinating post-disaster recovery efforts and preventing the outbreak of dengue fever.