Taiwan's economics ministry says its long-running flood control spending is working, pushing back on criticism after days of heavy rain swamped parts of the south — reassuring for officials, less so for people in low-lying southern towns still under water.

• Two decades of flood projects have lifted the share of local rivers and drains brought under control from 19% to 46%.
• The August 22 southern downpours simply overwhelmed the system, with one Kaohsiung station recording rain heavy enough to count as a once-in-a-century event.
• Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung sit on low flat land with weaker flood defenses than Taipei, and high tides made it worse.
• One upgraded drainage line in Pingtung stayed dry this time after flooding badly under lighter rain five years ago.
• The Cabinet has set up a water and river basin group to push runoff sharing and local water storage, so land itself can absorb more flooding.

Outlook: More flood budget requests are coming, with southern counties getting funding to study runoff sharing and local detention basins as heavy short-burst rain becomes more common.