Heavy rain caused by Typhoon Mekkhala caused localized flooding in Taipei and some southern areas of Taiwan (China) on June 25 and caused more than 200 people on the east coast to evacuate due to the risk of a dam breaking on the mountain.
Typhoon Mekkhala is heading towards Japan and is not making landfall directly in Taiwan (China), but the outermost clouds of the typhoon are causing torrential rain in some areas of the island, especially in Kaohsiung and Pingtung in the south.
The Pingtung government ordered the closure of all offices and schools on the afternoon of June 25, while Kaohsiung also applied similar measures to 2 mountainous areas. In an area on the outskirts of Inner Lake in Taipei, floodwaters almost submerged cars.
In the coastal district of Hoa Lien in the east of the island, authorities are evacuating more than 200 people in 2 towns located downstream of a dam lake on the mountain due to rising water.
Barrier lakes are formed when rocks, landslides, or other natural obstacles form dams across rivers, usually in water-retaining valleys, even stopping natural drainage.
Last year, 19 people died in another area of Hualien when a dam breached in super typhoon Ragasa, causing water and mud to flood into people's homes.
Rain is forecast to continue to occur in Taiwan (China) next week, although rainfall will gradually decrease.
Typhoon Mekkhala is one of 2 active storms in the northwest Pacific region, the other storm is Higos. According to the latest data from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the center of Typhoon Higos is 1.595km east of Northern Luzon, Philippines. The maximum sustained wind is 75 km/h near the center of the storm, gusts up to 90 km/h. The storm is moving west-northwest at a speed of 25 km/h.
Typhoon Higos is forecast to move northwest in the next 12 hours until it enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) in the afternoon or evening of June 25. When entering PAR, the typhoon is named Gardo locally.
In the Philippine Sea, the storm will turn north and leave PAR in the morning or afternoon of June 26.
Higos is likely to maintain tropical storm intensity while in PAR. The storm may weaken into a tropical depression in the afternoon or evening of June 26.
