Taiwan has collected 50 million tons of water in its northern reservoirs from heavy rain after enduring months of a parched landscape said to be the island’s worst drought in 56 years.

Weather across the whole island was unstable due to storms that were forecast to hit between Saturday and Monday, the Central Weather Bureau said. Thunder and strong winds were predicted, it said, advising people in mountainous areas to beware landslides and those living in low-lying regions to guard against flooding.

The bureau issued signals of strong rainfall for multiple cities, including Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, and counties including Chiayi, Pingtung, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin and Taitung. Rainfall was more intense in the north, while that in the south was concentrated in Pingtung.

Taipei saw a deluge of 300 millimeters (11.8 inches) of rain within three hours on Friday, and the storms were expected to lighten on Saturday, but regional heavy rainfall was possible, bureau forecaster Lin Ping-yu said.

Between the start of Friday to 6 a.m. on Saturday, the skies had dumped 50 million tons of water on reservoirs across Taiwan, the Water Resources Agency said.

The Feitsui reservoir in New Taipei City collected 162.3 millimeters of rain, representing 34.2 million tons, raising water levels by 9.3% to hit 78% of its capacity.

In Taoyuan city, the Shimen reservoir got 41.3 millimeters of rain, making up 6.3 million tons of water, which increased levels to 20%.

Water levels at the Sun Moon Lake reservoir in the central region rose 5.7% to reach 35% of capacity.

The Techi and Liyutan reservoirs in Taichung and Miaoli both had below 30 millimeters, increasing their water levels by less than 2% to reach 8% and 14% respectively.

The Nanhua, Zengwen and Wushantou reservoirs in the southern region registered an increase of less than 1% in water levels, which remained languishing below 20% of capacity.

If rainfall in the central region climbed to 110 millimeters, water restriction measures might be relaxed, pending a meeting on Monday, the agency said. The region was supposed to face two days of water suspension in a week because of the drought.

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