TYPHOON AERE BRINGS FLOODS AND ROCKFALL TO HUALIEN|艾利環流降大雨 花蓮淹水落石

Heavy rains triggered by Typhoon Aere impacted the east coast. In Hualien yesterday there was about 300 millimeters of rain and many areas were flooded. In the morning, there was a rock fall at the south entrance of the SuHua Highway's Heping Tunnel. Luckily no-one was hurt. The Hualien County Government announced suspension of classes and work for the afternoon. Fallen rocks were all around the car, but fortunately no-one was injured. Heavy rain brought by Typhoon Aere caused a rock fall at the Heping Tunnel on the Su Hua Highway. Police officers came out to photograph the damage. Workers came to clear away the rubble and large rocks and in the afternoon, the tunnel was again opened to traffic. The manhole cover spurted water out in Hualien City as flooding was reported. Many roads were impassable to vehicles and water was five centimeters deep. ==VEGETABLE VENDOR== What time did the water start rising? About 5 am. Had you already come out to start selling then? Yes, when we came out this morning it was already flooded. Rapidly rising water washed over the pillars of the bridge and yellow tape was put up to stop the public crossing the bridge. Some underpasses were also flooded, some cars drove on through while others turned off looking for alternative routes. ==COUNCIL STAFF== Because there is rock fall and flooding so the Directorate General of Highways decided to temporarily close the road. Provincial Highway 9 B was closed due to the impact of the rain, buses had to turn back and Hualien County Government suddenly announced suspension of classes and work. Parents then had to rush off to schools to pick up their children. ==PARENT== Not really raining hard, not too bad. As long as the kids are safe, that's what matters. The Central Weather Bureau issued a torrential rain warning for Hualien and Taitung for yesterday and today. There are 168 landslide warnings in place in Hualien County. The county government continues to evacuate those who are living in areas with warnings like Hsiulin Village and Yuli Township. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR 落石直接卡在黑色廂型車車底，整輛車動彈不得。大雨造成蘇花公路和平隧道南向口落石掉落，幸好沒有砸到車子，乘客皆平安。員警冒險衝出去拍照，現場還可看見大大小小的落石。最後工程人員出動吊車和怪手，移除落石，中午過後恢復通車。 水溝孔蓋不斷噴水，花蓮市區也傳出淹水災情，車子行駛在路上激起水花，民眾買菜必須涉水，水淹高度至少五公分。 ==菜販== (水是幾點鐘漲起來的) (早上) 五點多 (當時你已經過來賣菜了嗎) 我們早上來的時候就有(淹水) 湍急的水，不斷沖刷橋墩，現場拉起封鎖線，就怕民眾闖入。另外，地下道也出現積水，但還是有車子直接開過去。也有的不想冒險，在地下道入口前迴轉，另尋替代道路。 ==封路人員== 因為它有落石還有淹水 所以公路局站長決定 暫時先封閉 台九丙線因大雨影響封路，公車無法通行只好掉頭離開。因為豪雨不斷，花蓮縣政府緊急宣布下午停班停課，父母急忙到學校來接小孩放學。 ==學生家長== (接小朋友遇到大雨) 不會 還好 孩子平安比較重要 氣象局已對花東地區發布超大豪雨特報，今、明兩天降雨仍會持續，而目前花蓮全縣有168條土石流警戒，縣府也陸續撤離位在紅色警戒區的秀林鄉和玉里鎮居民。 記者 綜合報導