Taiwan Floods: Typhoon Ragasa Kills 14 In Hualien, 129 Missing

Fourteen people have died and 129 remain missing in Hualien county after a mountain barrier lake burst and flooded Guangfu township during Typhoon Ragasa, fire department officials said on Wednesday. According to Reuters, the lake, formed by landslides from earlier heavy rain, overflowed on Tuesday afternoon and sent a wall of water through the town.

The surge swept away a major road bridge and inundated large parts of Guangfu. Postman Hsieh Chien-tung told Reuters the water struck “like a tsunami”. He said he reached the second floor of the post office in time but later found his car washed into his living room. Officials said all the confirmed fatalities and missing persons were in Guangfu.

Wang Tse-an, village chief of Dama, a community of about 1,000 people, said his village was completely flooded and many residents were still stranded. “It’s chaotic now,” he told Reuters, adding that getting people to shelters was the immediate priority while supplies struggled to get through because of mud and debris.

Late on Wednesday, police sirens sounded in Guangfu with fresh flood warnings, and rescuers and residents warned people to move quickly to higher ground. Rescue teams from across Taiwan were dispatched to Hualien and the military deployed 340 troops. Soldiers used an armoured personnel carrier to move through mud-clogged streets and handed out water and instant noodles door-to-door.

Lamen Panay, a Hualien councillor, said evacuation requests before the flood had not been mandatory and that resources were insufficient to relocate people with disabilities. She added that official advice to evacuate vertically to higher floors proved inadequate against the force of the flooding. Government data showed about 5,200 people, roughly 60 per cent of Guangfu’s population, sheltered on upper floors of their homes, while most others stayed with relatives.

Authorities estimated the barrier lake held about 91 million tonnes of water, roughly the size of a major reservoir, and that around 60 million tonnes were released when it overflowed. The storm system had brought about 70 cm (28 inches) of rain to eastern Taiwan since Monday; the more populous west coast, home to the island’s semiconductor industry, was reported to be unaffected.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office issued condolences over the incident, a rare public expression of sympathy from Beijing. Hualien, noted for its wilderness and tourist appeal, is also home to many of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples, including the Amis. Typhoon Ragasa moved on towards China’s southern coast and Hong Kong.

In 2009, Typhoon Morakot caused widespread devastation in southern Taiwan, killing about 700 people and causing damage estimated at around $3 billion, Reuters reported.

(With inputs from Reuters)