Fung Wong Cleanup Keeps Taiwan Travel Uneven

Tropical Depression Fung Wong has shifted from headline storm to messy cleanup, and that makes travel across Taiwan feel patchy rather than clearly open or closed. Authorities now report at least 95 people injured and more than 8,500 evacuated as record multi day rain totals hammered Hualien, Yilan, and other eastern counties, even as schools and offices reopen after earlier blanket closures.

This update builds on our earlier coverage in Taiwan Halts Domestic Flights as Taiwan Taoyuang Nears, shifting the focus from Wednesday's all stop on domestic flights to the uneven restart of flights, trains, and roads. The short version is that core infrastructure is largely back, but east coast bottlenecks, wet mountain highways, and lingering airline schedule changes can still derail plans for the next several days.

Taiwan's patchwork recovery map

By November 14 local time, Taiwan's weather bureau has downgraded Fung Wong to a tropical depression and the system is moving away from the island, but the east and northeast are still dealing with swollen rivers and unstable hillsides. In Yilan, gauges have recorded more than a meter of rain since the start of the week, an astonishing total that helps explain why even modest new showers keep triggering fresh flood and landslide alerts.

Hualien's East Rift Valley is particularly hard hit. Floodwaters from Matai'an Creek spilled over into Mingli Village, with video showing homes and fields under water and a key segment of Provincial Highway 9 cut after a temporary culvert road washed out near the 231 kilometer mark.That closure matters because Highway 9 is the main road spine through the valley, so any damage there ripples through bus and car itineraries that connect Hualien, Guangfu, and Taitung.

Western Taiwan looks much calmer. Taipei and Taoyuan saw heavy rain and some localized flooding, but the main long distance corridors and airports avoided the worst. That is why the emerging pattern is one of normality in the west, constrained options on the east coast, and a messy middle for transfers that need to cross from one side of the island to the other.

Flights, ferries, and a slow return to normal

On Wednesday, regulators preemptively cancelled all domestic flights as Fung Wong approached, and major carriers trimmed international schedules in and out of Kaohsiung and other southern gateways.With the storm now weakened, airlines have started restoring rotations, but you should still treat timetables as sketches instead of promises.

EVA Air's typhoon travel news page continues to warn that some flights in the days around November 11 to 13 may be retimed or cancelled and that passengers should monitor live status tools rather than relying on original itineraries.Tigerair Taiwan has also flagged that services can be changed at short notice for safety reasons, and Thai Airways, Cathay Pacific, and others have published flight status updates that cover Taiwan routes during the storm window.

The important practical shift is that we are moving from mass preemptive cancellations toward a normal looking schedule with residual gaps. That is good news if you are flying in the next few days, but it also means you cannot assume your connection will always be protected. If your long haul into Taipei or Kaohsiung feeds a separate ticket on a low cost carrier, for example, you still need generous buffer time in case the domestic leg or onward international hop remains on a slightly different recovery curve.

Ferry services are even more local and more fragile. Earlier in the week, the Maritime and Port Bureau and county governments suspended many routes to outer islands and along exposed coasts.As seas settle, operators are bringing services back on a route by route basis, but pockets of rough water, debris, and damaged small harbors will keep island links less predictable than the big airports. If your plans rely on boats to Penghu, Green Island, or Orchid Island, confirm sailings the day before, then again the morning of travel.

Trains are largely back, but east coast tracks are fragile

For many travelers, rail will be the most reliable way to move around Taiwan during the cleanup, especially on the western side. Taiwan Railway Corporation has resumed train operations after authorities lifted typhoon warnings, although the operator is still warning of potential slow orders and adjustments where crews are inspecting tracks for subsidence or washouts.

On the high speed line between Taipei's Nangang station and Zuoying in Kaohsiung, Taiwan High Speed Rail cut frequencies to three trains per hour at the height of the storm, then added extra services once conditions improved.That pattern, fewer trains during the worst of the weather and then make up services as demand rebounds, is typical, and it means seats may be tight for a few days on popular afternoon and weekend departures.

The fragile piece is the east coast. Sections of track between Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung run through narrow coastal shelves and river valleys that just soaked up staggering rain.Even where lines are technically open, speed limits and short notice suspensions are likely until engineers are confident that slopes will hold. Expect occasional bus bridges, platform changes, and crowding on surviving services as locals and tourists all try to move during limited windows of stability.

Roads, parks, and where bottlenecks will appear

On the roads, the headline issues are still flooding, landslides, and damaged temporary works rather than wholesale motorway failures. Provincial Highway 9 in Hualien's East Rift Valley is the most obvious choke point, where a temporary culvert road was washed away near Matai'an Creek and both directions were shut while crews checked the underlying bridge.Similar high risk spots exist on other mountain and east coast roads, including some parts of the Southern Cross Island Highway and smaller county roads that feed rural villages.

Inside Taroko National Park, authorities have imposed strict trail and access restrictions under emergency provisions, closing ecological protection areas and requiring hikers to stay out of high risk zones until typhoon related danger passes.The upshot is that even if your lodge or city hotel is back on line, your planned scenic drive or canyon hike may not be.

In the cities, drivers will mainly face waterlogged underpasses, fallen branches, and intersection signal glitches rather than washed out roads. That still adds up to slower traffic and longer taxi or rideshare waits, particularly during peak commute times when schools and offices that were closed earlier in the week all come back at once.

Airline waivers and how to use them

Multiple airlines have opened or extended flexible change windows tied to Fung Wong, but the fine print matters. Cathay Pacific, for example, is waiving rebooking and rerouting fees for tickets issued worldwide on or before November 12 that involve Kaohsiung between November 11 and 13.EVA Air and Tigerair Taiwan have posted advisories that, in practice, allow fee free date changes within a limited period when flights are cancelled or significantly delayed.

If you are in economy on a low cost carrier, expect tighter rebooking windows and fewer free reroute options than full service airlines offer in premium cabins. If you are in business or premium economy on long haul tickets, you will usually have better access to alternative routings, including same day connections via Hong Kong, Bangkok, or Tokyo if your original Taiwan entry or exit point remains constrained. Either way, your best leverage tends to be before departure, when agents can still move you without no show penalties.

For travelers trying to link Taiwan and the Philippines, remember that Fung Wong hit the Philippines as a super typhoon before weakening toward Taiwan, with widespread damage and ongoing repairs there as well.That means Manila, Clark, and Cebu have their own roster of waivers and backlog flights, and a clean seat map does not necessarily mean smooth airport operations. Bake in very long layovers or, where possible, use a hub like Hong Kong or Singapore as a buffer between the two storm affected countries.

How this fits into Taiwan's broader risk picture

International advisories still rate Taiwan as low risk from a security standpoint. The United States, Australia, and Canada all advise travelers to exercise normal precautions, while noting that typhoons and heavy seasonal rain can disrupt essential services and transport between May and November.Fung Wong is a particularly sharp reminder of that pattern rather than a sign that the underlying risk profile has changed.

The forward looking lesson is that Taiwan's east coast and mountain corridors remain structurally vulnerable even as engineering standards improve. Typhoons and their remnants will keep closing the same handful of highways and rail segments in big storm years, and that means your travel planning should always build in redundancy if you are headed to Hualien, Taitung, or smaller coastal towns in peak typhoon season.

Practical planning for the next few days

If you are flying in or out of Taiwan through the weekend, here is the concrete playbook. Use airline apps to re confirm flights twice, the day before and the morning of travel. If you have a separate ticket connection, aim for at least three hours between arrival and departure, more if one leg touches Kaohsiung or regional airports that took the brunt of Fung Wong's landfall.

For intercity hops, favor the high speed rail on the west coast where possible, then connect across the island once you have a clear window and confirmed highway or rail status. On the east side, treat every trip as provisional, watch for last minute TRA notices about slow orders or temporary suspensions, and keep a backup plan that involves an overnight stop if a slide or washout closes your primary route.

If all of this sounds cautious, that is the point. Taiwan handles storms well, and recovery is moving fast, but eastern counties are still in cleanup mode. A little extra slack in your schedule is the easiest way to turn an uneven travel map into a trip that still works.

Sources

• Taiwan Halts Domestic Flights as Taiwan Taoyuang Nears
• Taiwan Land Warning, Midweek Travel Disruptions Likely
• More rain falls in Taiwan after tropical depression causes flooding
• Typhoon Fung-wong brings floods to Taiwan, thousands evacuated
• Floodwaters cut off Hualien's main valley highway again
• Train services restart Thursday following typhoon weakening
• Railways adjust services as tropical storm approaches
• Due to the Typhoon FUNG-WONG, some flights in the coming days may be affected
• Special Ticketing Guideline for Tropical Cyclone Fung Wong, Kaohsiung
• Reminder for Travelers, Typhoon Fung-wong
• Taiwan Travel Advisory, Level 1 Exercise Normal Precautions
• Taiwan travel advice, Government of Canada