Chang died about four hours after he was rushed to the emergency room at a nearby hospital. The emergency operation center in Nantou confirmed yesterday that by the time Chang was sent to the hospital, he was already found to be in Stage 3 of the Glasgow Coma Scale.
A car owned by Chuen Hsin-ying (全欣穎), one of the missing people, was found by rescuers yesterday in the Choshui River. The rescuers also found two bodies in the river whose identities still needed to be verified.
Many impatient people decided to extend a helping hand.
About 80 volunteers mobilized by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan took generators, gasoline, food and other necessities into three villages in Chiayi County’s Alishan Township (阿里山), where more than 6,000 are trapped.
“The volunteers drove the items in cars to the spot where the road is obstructed, and then continued the rest of the trip on foot,” said Hosi Yudaw, a member of the group said. “Since the government’s rescue teams aren’t doing anything to help Alishan residents, we must give them a hand.”
Hosi said that the Church has organized other volunteer teams to help out in Taitung and Kaohsiung counties.
SPECIAL FORCE
Because Highway 18 was severely damaged by landslides, the Army yesterday dispatched a special task force to deliver food supplies and other resources to residents of Fanlu Township (番路) in Chiayi County. Each of the special task force members was required to carry 40kg of supplies in his or her knapsack.
The emergency operation center in Chiayi County said it believed nearly 9,000 people remained stranded there.
In Pingtung County, more than 200 villagers in Wutai Township (霧台) — one of the hardest-hit of the county’s townships — had been airlifted to safety as of 11am, with 100 more awaiting rescue. However, about 250 residents refused to be evacuated because the weather had cleared and the rain had subsided.
In southern parts of Taitung County, more than 20,000 residents remained stranded without food or potable water. Captain Lee Lu-tai (李魯臺), commander of Fleet 151, said yesterday that naval frigates, to be loaded with heavy vehicles for transport and clean-up jobs as well as other relief supplies, would anchor off Jhihben (知本) today.
The Taitung County Government, meanwhile, yesterday rescinded the order it made overnight that approximately 500 residents in Jialan (嘉蘭), Taiho (太和) and Hsianglan (香蘭) villages evacuate after it ascertained that a barrier lake upstream on the Taimali River (太麻里溪) did not likely endanger residents because its water level was much lower than the previous day.
More than 363,000 households in the southern counties of Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung were still without running water as of 10am yesterday and more than 19,000 households throughout the Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung regions were still suffering from power outages.
Because of road blockages and downed bridges, repair teams were still unable to enter the battered zones, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said. In some areas, flood water caused by heavy rains have not subsided, nor dried up enough for Taipower to resume services, it said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ELIZABETH TCHII
Also See: JOHNNY NEIHU'S NEWS WATCH: You know you’re really one of us (II)
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