Record rain has flooded Pingtung County in southern Taiwan again, wrecking farms and reopening a political fight over who is to blame — bad news for farmers, and now a campaign issue.

• More than 1,300mm of rain fell on Pingtung, with two townships hit by over 100mm in a single hour before dawn.
• Farm losses are heavy; bitter melon fields in Nanzhou were inspected by Premier Cho Jung-tai as growers counted ruined crops.
• County chief Chou Chun-mi pushed back at KMT challenger Su Ching-chuan, telling him extreme weather calls for unity, not online sniping and gloating.
• Su had called the Linluo drainage works "shoddy"; Chou says the decade-old channel was built for 400mm and simply could not hold rain above 500mm.
• Emergency repairs are underway with sandbags and concrete blocks, and Chou pressed lawmakers to stop blocking the budget.

Outlook: Bidding for the emergency repair work is set for Sept. 1, and the flood damage looks likely to become a central issue in the county's election race.