Taiwan extreme heat drill hit by heavy rain

Taiwan held its first extreme heat drill in New Taipei City on Thursday, but the exercise was hit by heavy rain instead of the 40C conditions officials were practising for.

About 300 people from labour, fire, social welfare and medical sectors took part in scenarios based on temperatures reaching 40C for three consecutive days. Participants used raincoats and umbrellas, and portable gazebos were set up against the wet weather.

The drill included a simulated heatstroke case involving a homeless person, water trucks pretending to cool street surfaces, inspections at a construction site, heat-related emergency room cases, support for elderly people and scenarios involving transport disruption and power outages.

Chang Ken-mu, deputy director-general of the environment ministry's Climate Change Administration, said the rain tested officials' ability to adapt. He said Taiwan could face extreme heat in the morning and intense rainfall in the afternoon in the future.

Deputy Environment Minister Hsieh Yein-rui said extreme high temperatures could no longer be treated as a simple weather event because they affect public health, energy, rail infrastructure, transport and the environment.

The event involved 30 central government agencies, 16 New Taipei City bureaus and departments, three companies and one medical facility. It had been postponed from last week because of a typhoon.

Temperatures in New Taipei City reached 29C on Thursday, according to the Central Weather Administration. About 44 millimetres of rain fell over three hours in the drill area, which CWA forecaster Wang Pin-hsiang said was not considered particularly heavy rainfall.