The Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) barrier lake burst into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) on Tuesday, causing floodwaters to pour onto Dunhou Road, Fozu Street and other areas of the town, resulting in a major tragedy.
Before the disaster struck, the central government had issued several alerts for Hualien County — four “red” landslide alerts, 102 “yellow” landslide alerts and four “yellow” alerts for large-scale collapses — through the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency, the Central Weather Administration and the Water Resources Agency. Data from the Central Emergency Operations Center showed an abnormal rise in water levels at the Mataian River barrier lake, indicating an imminent risk of overflow and prompting an evacuation order for more than 8,000 people.
However, the local government failed to implement the order in time. Hualien County Commissioner Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚) was abroad. Although the county government had received the warnings, it neglected to initiate proper protocol — it merely issued hasty instructions for residents to “move to the second floor,” without providing any supporting measures. When the flood hit, local residents were left with nothing but grassroots notifications and volunteer efforts, forced to face the floodwaters head on.
In contrast, the local government demonstrated an astonishing capacity for mobilization during July’s recall vote. Hualien County recorded a voter turnout of 55.23 percent — one of the highest in the country. The number of votes opposing the recall of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) exceeded those in favor. In Guangfu Township alone, nearly 3,000 out of 10,000 eligible voters were mobilized to vote against the recall.
This highlights a stark contrast. When votes are needed, officials go door to door urging people to head to the polls, calling out names one by one, but when the floodwaters hit, they neglected to mobilize and execute evacuation orders.
During the recall campaign, the Hualien County Government distributed emergency evacuation and first aid kits, treating them as symbols of protection and resource commitment. Yet when a real disaster struck, how many lives were saved by those emergency kits? Efforts to counter the recall were successful, but it was people’s lives and property that did not make it through.
All the more ironic is that the county government enthusiastically promoted the kits, praising them as part of its “disaster preparedness,” but they turned out to be little more than propaganda. When floodwaters surged into alleys and elderly people were trapped on the ground floor, the kits had long been swept away. The ability to mobilize residents to vote — yet not to evacuate — exposes failures in governance and misplaced values of those in power.
After the disaster, Fu attempted to shift the blame onto the central government, claiming that directions were insufficient and the warnings unclear. However, the warnings were explicit — the responsibility for carrying out evacuation orders, supplying resources and arranging shelters lies with the local government.
If the Hualien County Government cannot even ensure that every household is notified and well-prepared, or that residents on upper floors could survive until the floodwaters recede, then is its assessment of the value of lives versus votes not extremely misguided?
Shih Wen-yi is a former deputy director-general of the Centers for Disease Control.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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