Typhoon Haitang is the first super typhoon to hit Taiwan this millennium and it has put all of Taiwan on high alert. Typhoon Thelma in 1977, Typhoon Wayne in 1986 and Typhoon Herb in 1996 all caused significant damage and there is now considerable anxiety as Taiwanese prepare to meet the onslaught of the new typhoon.
The damage caused by a typhoon is not necessarily proportional to its power. In the recent past, the most destructive typhoons, such as Typhoon Xangsane, Typhoon Nari, Typhoon Toraji and Typhoon Mindule, were medium-level storms. The death toll for Typhoon Toraji was 111 and 94 for Typhoon Nari. Although the damage caused by a typhoon is related to its strength and path, human factors can be significant in the cause or prevention of natural disasters.
Take Typhoons Toraji and Nari for example. Disasters were caused because of insufficient prevention work, the poor maintenance of pumps and negligence of people in charge. Although we cannot stop a typhoon hitting Taiwan, negligence and mistakes are important factors in creating a disaster situation.
As typhoons have caused greater and greater loss of money and lives in Taiwan, the government and the public have learned to pay more attention to disaster-prevention work. The government's disaster-prevention mechanism has gradually taken shape and the public is no longer as indifferent to potential dangers as before. Still, some people insist on going hiking or engaging in watersports even when a typhoon is on the way. Some residents in high-alert areas also refuse to be evacuated. Such behavior not only puts themselves in danger, but they also increase the risk for rescue workers. Therefore, Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) announced that the government will no longer offer pensions to those who were hurt or killed in high-alert areas when a typhoon strikes. This new measure is likely to reduce unreasonable behavior.
With the arrival of Typhoon Haitang, Taiwan has been placed in a state of high alert. Despite force 17 winds and thousands of millimeters of rain in some areas, responses have been efficient and effective. Pumping stations have been put on alert, staff are at their posts and the orderly evacuation of people in landslide danger zones have all ensured that loss of life has so far been kept to a minimum. This situation is cause for celebration and is a clear indication that Taiwan's disaster response measures are effective.
Because of the heavy rains brought by Haitang, 199 rivers around Taiwan have been classified as "red alert." Virtually all of Taiwan's reservoirs are full to overflowing and because of spring tides at this time, have created an extreme challenge to Taiwan's flood-prevention systems. Unfortunately, now that the government has changed its regional subsidy policy, local governments have received a budget of just NT$800 million a year for flood prevention, much of which is diverted to cover other needs. This has resulted in the lowering of Taiwan's flood-prevention capability. We hope that the Legislative Yuan will be able to quickly pass the bill providing a budget of NT$80 billion over eight years to overhaul flood-control mechanisms.
The Taipei Times June 14 editorial called for the legislature to hold an extraordinary session to pass the flood-management bill and the related special budget, but at that time the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) opposition was too busy with its chairmanship election to give this suggestion due consideration. Now that the chairmanship election is over, the KMT should return its focus to this issue. We hope that Typhoon Haitang will not bring severe flooding to Taiwan, but its warning should be heeded and we should take to heart that, because the nation's flood-prevention ability has been reduced, people are more than ever under threat from flooding. The special bill on flood management and the related budget may not be able to prevent flooding, but they are the absolute minimum that the government can do to avert a crisis.
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