Offices, schools closed in southern Taiwan due to torrential rain

Torrential rains across southern Taiwan have forced offices and schools to close on Monday, and some rail services were disrupted, with officials bracing for a typhoon to hit the north of the island later in the week.

A low-pressure system has hovered over southern Taiwan for the past few days, bringing heavy rain and causing flooding.

The local governments of the two cities of Kaohsiung and Tainan, home to more than four million people, ordered offices and schools closed, as did the counties of Pingtung and Chiayi and the mountainous eastern counties of Taitung and Hualien.

The Kaohsiung government said it expected cumulative rainfall over the five days of the low-pressure system to exceed 1.3 metres, nearly half what the city typically expects in an entire year.

Taiwan Railway said there would be disruptions on the main east coast line and trains to and from Kaohsiung and Taitung, with express services cancelled and local trains dependent on weather conditions.

"If you've got nothing on, for goodness sake don't go out," Taitung county chief April Yao wrote on her Facebook page.

Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said separately that Typhoon Saudel, currently heading towards Japan's southern Okinawa region, is expected to pass by the northern part of Taiwan early on Friday before reaching the eastern coast of China.