After the violent wind and rain from Typhoon Koinu ravaged the Hengchun Peninsula in Pingtung, today welcomes the first day of the National Day holiday. Originally, the accommodation was nearly full, but due to guests delaying and canceling reservations, occupancy plummeted to 80%.
The Lingxiao Pavilion in Kenting’s Sheding Park, a spot for watching migratory eagles, is temporarily closed due to damage.
Because various scenic spots in Kenting National Park, visitor centers, Kenting Forest Recreation Area, and Manzhou Jialeshui Park are temporarily closed for environmental cleanup, and the Sheding Nature Park, a spot for eagle-watching, is also closed due to damage. Also, each recreational beach has lost sand and has over 1-meter high waves, forbidding entry to the water, leaving tourists asking, ‘Where else can we go?’
Xiawan beach has shrunk and is closed for swimming due to waves over 1 meter high; tourists can only paddle on the beach.
The Kenting National Park Management Office states that each recreational spot was severely damaged by the strong winds of Typhoon Koinu, with large trees breaking and some infrastructure damaged. Cleanup has been sequentially completed in areas like Shadao, Longpan, and Houbihu, and these areas are now open to serve tourists.
The temporary office at Kenting’s Eluanbi Park is severely damaged.
The visitor center is expected to reopen on the 8th, while more severely damaged spots like Eluanbi Park, Taiwan’s southernmost point, Maobitou, Longluantan, and Longkeng are expected to open on the 10th. The most severely damaged area, the Nanrenshan Management Station in Manzhou Township, is expected to finish cleanup on the 15th.
October is the annual eagle-watching hot season in Kenting. Up to this morning, over 180,000 Chinese Goshawks have migrated south. The transit is nearing its end, followed by the arrival of the Grey-faced Buzzard, dubbed the ‘National Day Bird.’
The first group of 585 birds was observed today migrating. Because the popular eagle-watching spot Sheding Nature Park is closed due to fallen trees from the typhoon, with some railings and roofing damaged, and as continuous rain may cause waterlogged wood to collapse further, it is temporarily closed.
The Kenting Management Office suggests eagle enthusiasts could go to the open space on the eastern coast of the JiaE Highway in the morning to watch the eagles take off and to Lide Village or Gangkou Village in Manzhou Township in the afternoon to watch them land.
Chuanfanshi (Sail Rock) beach after the typhoon still looks pretty flooded and shrank seriously
This morning, Kenting was greeted with sunshine, turning to overcast with rain in the afternoon. Due to the impact of huge waves on the coast from several typhoons passing through, the beaches have altered.
The huge waves during Koinu’s transit eroded them further, shrinking the beaches again. Today, due to waves over 1 meter high, red flags forbidding entering the water were placed, and tourists could only wade near the shore, but surfing was not prohibited.
A tourist surnamed Wu from Taipei said that seeing the post-disaster scenes of fallen trees, blown-down signs, and desolated beaches along the way, they only then felt the ‘thrilling’ emotions described by locals when Koinu made landfall, finding it troublesome that they didn’t know where they could go have fun.