Standing on the shore of Kaohsiung County’s Laonong River (荖濃溪), Tsai Hung-chi (蔡鴻麒) looked at the remains of the collapsed Sinfa Bridge (新發大橋).
Behind him was the deformed county highway leading to the Sinkai Community (新開部落), which became known through a televised image of a placard that read “32 people killed, SOS” that mudslide victims had put up to attract attention in the wake of Typhoon Morakot in August.
“This used to be a very beautiful place where you could have fresh and delicious peaches, but it’s all different now,” said Tsai, who was chief of the Directorate General of Highways’ (DGH) Siaolin Station.
He was one of the fortunate few that were able to survive the catastrophes Morakot inflicted on the area.
Tsai, along with DGH contractor Chang Chien Shi-hui (張簡士暉), were recently recommended by their supervisors to be recognized by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications for their dedication to work during the Morakot disaster.
Tsai recalled that heavy rain began to pound Jiasian Township (甲仙) on Aug. 8. He and his road crews were scheduled to travel to Chinshuei Park the following day to construct a bailey bridge across the Cishan River (旗山溪).
“One of our contractors went down to the side of the river,” Tsai said. “I saw that one of the bulldozers down there was about to sink into the mud. I instinctively knew that something was wrong. I told him to climb up quickly. And sure enough, the debris dam caused by the mudslides from Mount Siandu (獻肚山) broke and the water went up about 10 minutes later, swallowing the entire riverside.”
Tsai said that the station had received reports from the residents in Jiasian’s Siaolin Village (小林) the night before that mudslides had hit their houses around 6pm, when most of them were having dinner.
The DGH was ordered to work fast to make roads accessible so that the relief aid could be quickly delivered.
As the station chief, Tsai worked almost non-stop during that period. He eventually was forced to check into a hospital because a wound on his nose developed into cellulitis, a bacterial inflammation.
Chang Chien, meanwhile, was told to drive to Siaolin Village and report back to the DGH on the road conditions.
“On Aug. 7, we were told that the rainfall would be just about 500mm,” Chang Chien said.
“The next day, the rainfall was adjusted to 1,500mm, but we did not know that because the electricity was out and we could not watch television,” he said.
Chang Chien and his nephew originally planned to drive on from Siaolin to Namasiya Township (那瑪夏) on Aug. 8, but gave up because the road was blocked by a large tree truck lying on the road.
They then managed to drive up to Siaolin Tunnel and hoped to spend the night inside the tunnel until the rain stopped.
Chang Chien said he was awakened around 5am the next morning by the sound of mudslides.
About an hour later, water had flooded the tunnel.
“When I saw the water in the tunnel, I knew that Siaolin Village was through,” he said, adding that the tunnel was about 50m to 60m from the village.
Chang Chien and his nephew decided to climb onto their car’s roof.
Within 10 minutes, their car was carried away by surging water. They managed to grab hold of a piece of wood and paddled their way to the shore. Fearing that the water would continue to rise, they decided to climb to the top of the mountain.
They ended up being stuck on the mountain for five days before they were rescued by the helicopter.
They sustained themselves by eating Tabasco peppers and betel nuts and drinking rainwater.
Both Tsai and Chang Chien have been asked to write about their experiences, but they decided to pass on the request because they are pressed to finish the restoration work before next year’s rainy season.
The DGH mobilized 7,000 people and 4,000 machines to tackle the damage to roads in areas severely hit by Typhoon Morakot. Many of the damaged roadways can now be used thanks to temporary passages built by the DGH.
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