Days of torrential rain have flooded multiple districts in Kaohsiung, causing severe damage and bad news for residents, agriculture and fisheries, and transport.

• While inspecting flood damage in Alian, Kuomintang legislator Ko Chih-en's car stalled in deep water and the doors were jammed shut by water pressure; she eventually escaped by climbing out through the passenger-side window.
• Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai said he had telephoned to offer his sympathies and to urge caution, stressing that Tandi Road sits on low-lying ground where floodwater rises extremely fast, and that drivers should not attempt to push through standing water.
• Almost all of the top ten-odd single-day rainfall figures nationwide were recorded in Kaohsiung. A huge sinkhole opened up in Cianjhen, swallowing even the excavator sent to carry out repairs.
• In Alian, more than half a metre of muddy yellow water poured into one home within four hours, forcing the entire family to take refuge on the second floor. Residents complained that despite years of flood-control work, the flooding still returns every year.
• Chen Chi-mai has secured more than NT$1 billion in funding from the central government to build a new detention pond at Tuku and add pumping stations, and has called for faster disbursement of disaster relief and low-interest loans.

Outlook: As the rain eases, attention will turn to road repairs and compensation for agricultural and fishery losses, but the effectiveness of flood-control efforts is likely to remain a central line of attack in the Kaohsiung mayoral race.