The heavy rains brought by Typhoon Toraji caused serious flooding, cave-ins and mudslides in many areas nationwide. The typhoon took away precious lives and left most of the disaster areas without drinking water and electricity. Floods and landslides caused by typhoons have become a cause of frequent suffering in Taiwan. At the root of the problem are not merely the natural disasters themselves, but also human error.
Taiwan has high mountains, steep slopes and unstable soil. Often typhoons bring more than 500mm of heavy rain with them, causing disasters such as floods, cave-ins and landslides. In recent years, many mountain slopes previously covered with flood-containing forests have been rapidly given over to roads and housing developments. Even worse, many houses and highrises have been built in drainage areas, reducing the space for water percolation and drainage.
These human errors have exacerbated both the frequency of disasters and the scale of the damage they cause.
A multi-pronged approach is needed to solve the flooding and mudslide problems. Apart from flood diversion, storage and release control at flood prevention dams, preservation of forests in catchment areas as well as water and soil conservation should be adhered to. More importantly, drainage areas should be cleared of obstacles and their drainage functions restored. In order to enforce restrictions on construction in drainage areas, coordination between local governments and the public should be strengthened through various channels, thus reducing obstacles to implementation.
In many areas in Taiwan, the flooding problem is as much a man-made disaster as a natural one. But it is unfair to put all the blame for the damage -- and the responsibility for rescue work -- on the government and rescue agencies.
During a flood, all rescuers hope to reach the scene as soon as possible once a rescue request is made, even if the transportation routes have been cut off. But excessive requests can sap the energy of the rescue units, which only have limited personnel and equipment and simply can't meet everyone's expectations immediately. Deplorably, many people fail to recognize the importance of evacuation. The failure to evacuate flood and mudslide-prone zones is usually the cause of unnecessary deaths.
The heavy rains brought by Typhoon Xiangsane last year killed 14 elderly people who were trapped in a basement nursing home and another 15 at a religious institution located in a basement in Keelung. Even though floods in such an area are a combination of natural disasters exacerbated by man-made problems, the loss of human lives was purely a man-made one that could have been avoided.
Similarly, ground-floor apartments -- not to mention basements -- of houses in the low-lying areas along the Keelung River should never be used or occupied during typhoons and heavy rains. This clearly shows that we need to plan and thoroughly implement an all-round educational program on disaster evacuation -- a program in which local governments, education and information authorities, the media and the public should all participate.
As the old Chinese saying goes, "Do not enter a dangerous place; do not live in a disordered state" (危鄰不入, 亂邦不居). Dangerous areas around the country must be cleared of residents. By planning and implementing an educational program like that described above, a consensus that "everyone is responsible for disaster prevention, evacuation and relief" can be achieved.
The public needs to fully understand that there are many dangerous areas where floods and landslides take place easily. Residents living in these areas must learn from that other old Chinese saying, "Of the 36 strategies for handling a situation, the best is to get away at once" (
Although it is necessary to build flood-prevention structures and to promote water and soil conservation, the government cannot provide protection measures in each and every dangerous area due to the huge costs -- not to mention their limited effect. As a consequence, the establishment of an educational program on disaster prevention and evacuation has become crucial.
Unnecessary loss of human life and property could be greatly reduced if the public were to evacuate dangerous areas in a timely fashion in the event of typhoons. It's never too late to take precautions. It is to be hoped that both the government and the public will face the above suggestions squarely.
Cheng Jie-dar is director of the Research Center for Conservation of Water Resources and Disaster Prevention at National Chung Hsing University.
Translated by Eddy Chang
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations