TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Typhoon Kong-rey wreaked havoc on Taiwan's educational institutions, affecting 326 schools and causing over NT$110 million in damages, the Ministry of Education (MOE, 教育部) reported on Friday (Nov. 1).
Hualien County bore the brunt, with 59 schools impacted, followed by New Taipei City with 49 and Tainan City with 30.
Hualien County faced the highest financial toll, amounting to NT$39.79 million. Taipei City and New Taipei City followed with NT$22.62 million and NT$13.38 million, respectively.
Tatung University (大同大學) in Taipei City suffered damages estimated at NT$20 million due to the collapse of two walls and seven trees.
In Hualien County, Zhuoxi Elementary School (卓溪國小) incurred losses of NT$10.54 million from a flooded playground and soil erosion. Meilun Junior High School (美崙國中) estimated losses at NT$8.5 million after strong winds blew off the steel roofing of two buildings and toppled or broke ten trees on campus.
MOE stated that the current damage figures are preliminary. Schools will conduct precise assessments during the post-disaster recovery phase, and local authorities will confirm the evaluations before submitting them to the Executive Yuan (行政院).