Suhua Highway in eastern Taiwan reopens to traffic Sunday morning after road closure

道路封閉後台灣東部蘇花高速公路在周日早上重新開放

The Suhua Highway in eastern Taiwan has been reopened to traffic since Monday morning after overnight efforts to clear the roadway blocked by mudslides due to heavy rains


TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—The Suhua Highway in eastern Taiwan has been reopened to traffic since Monday morning after overnight efforts to clear the roadway blocked by mudslides due to heavy rains, Taiwan’s Directorate General of Highways (DGH) announced on Sunday morning.

The DGH said that the Chongde-Heren section of the Suhua Hihway received a maximum of 110mm of rainfall per hour on Saturday, which caused mudslides and mud flows at the 168K+500, 168K+600, 169K+900 kilometer marks. The impassable road conditions forced the authority to close the section in both directions, trapping 109 people in 30 vehicles.

A total of 32 workers participated in efforts to clear the roadway overnight, the DGH said, adding that all the trapped people had been evacuated by 10:48 p.m. Saturday night.

The Suhua Highway has been reopened to traffic since 7 a.m. Sunday morning, the DGH said, urging road users to not go into mountainous areas during heavy rains and get real-time alerts and road conditions by checking this website (Chinese) and listening to broadcasts.