We Need To Do The Rain Dance: Taiwan's 2021 drought.

This is the first post that I have written in a few years, I decided to get back into it after one night of me reading over one of my old adventures, I enjoyed being able to look back and relive that memory.

So, it is currently April 2021. A lot has changed in the world since my last post, we are currently in the middle of a pandemic called Covid 19 which has ruined all travel plans, China is inching forward to invade causing the other countries to take notice and just to make life that little harder, Taiwan is starting to run out of water.

We are in a drought because last year during the typhoon season, not one typhoon wanted to visit us here, they just sailed on by. Since then, there has been a lack of rain. I am pretty sure I can count the rainy days in the last year on one hand. Central and southern Taiwan have been as dry as the Sahara desert and there is nothing anybody can do about it, only in the north in Taipei are they enjoying the wetness of rain.

It is strange when you are in a drought, you start appreciating water more, I mean we use it for many things from washing to drinking, but when the government tells you to start rationing, it just feels a little strange.

A few weeks ago, our reservoirs were at low capacities, some being 10% full and others a lot lower. The government decided it would be best to shut off the water in certain areas of central Taiwan for two days of the week. Taichung and north Changhua County have the water shut off on Tuesday's and Wednesday's and south Changhua County has the water shut off on Thursday's and Friday's.

It hasn't been so bad so far, we bought a red box to fill it up with water on the days when there is none and use it for showering or flushing the loo, even at school it has been successful. But, it is now slowly getting worse.

Since central Taiwan still isn't having any rain, our reservoirs are now down to 4%, the biggest lake in the country that is called 'Sun Moon Lake' has now been given a new name, 'Sun Moon Desert', they have found lost mobile phones and an old sunken boat and the dryness of the land has caused more earthquakes to occur, which I didn't know was a thing that happened. We recently had an earthquake the other night that was a six on the Richter scale.

I remember reading on the news, if we don't get enough rain in the next two weeks, the reservoirs near me will dry up to 0%. I don't even know what will happen if that is to be the case.

We do have a storm on the way, but the scientist has predicted that it is not going to solve the drought problem. I don't even think it is going to hit us at all.

It is strange, when there is no rain, you do start to miss the feel of the droplets, the smell of the wet plants and the mist in the air.

I will surely keep you posted on any updates.

Here is what 'Sun Moon Lake' is supposed to look like. (The picture at the top is Sun Moon Lake today)