At least 14 people have been confirmed dead after floodwaters from the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) barrier lake burst into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) on Tuesday, government officials said yesterday, after Super Typhoon Ragasa pounded Taiwan with torrential rain.
The lake in eastern Hualien — formed by a series of landslides that created a natural dam wall — burst, washing away a bridge and sweeping into Guangfu with a trail of thick sludge and mud.
“It was like a volcano erupting... The muddy floodwaters came roaring straight into the first floor of my house,” said Hsu Cheng-hsiung, 55, a neighborhood leader of Guangfu.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA
More than half of Guangfu’s 8,450 people sought safety on higher floors of their homes or on higher ground yesterday morning. The streets were caked in thick gray mud after the flood hit, with fallen trees blocking the way.
Wrecked cars and scooters lay by the roadside or piled on top of each other by the flood waters, and some metal gates and roofs of homes were destroyed, with furniture scattered along the streets.
Residents said the mud was too much to clear by themselves with more help for the cleanup expected today.
Photo: CNA
“I was very scared... About 500m in front of me, the stream suddenly swelled into a flood,” a 54-year-old relief volunteer surnamed Shih (施) said at a makeshift shelter. “I heard police broadcasting on the street: ‘The water is coming, run.’”
Residents were ordered to evacuate amid fears that the barrier lake would overflow again or burst, a day after the initial breach.
Local broadcasts at about 11:30am instructed residents to halt cleanup work and head toward Rueisuei Township (瑞穗) for safety.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA
Authorities said the confirmation of a new overflow was pending, but that precautionary measures were necessary due to heavy rains.
As of 5pm yesterday, there were a total of 17 deaths and 32 injured across the country, the Central Emergency Operation Center said.
The death toll at 10:30pm was again fixed and dropped to 14, while the number of missing also fell from 152 to 46, as rescuers established contact with more than 100 people who were previously unreachable, and were going door-to-door to check on the remaining 46 residents, the National Fire Agency said.
“Seventeen people remain missing after the Mataian River barrier lake burst. We must ... seize the time for rescue,” Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) told a government briefing.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) visited the area yesterday, pledging to provide assistance to those affected.
He said the authorities should find out why “evacuation orders were not carried out in the affected area,” which led to the casualties, and ordered representatives of central government agencies to stay in Hualien to support relief efforts.
Across Taiwan, nearly 8,400 people were evacuated due to Super Typhoon Ragasa.
In areas around the barrier lake, 3,285 people were evacuated and about 1,200 were staying in shelters, the fire agency said.
The Central Weather Administration said rainfall in Guangfu had eased, but warned that eastern and southeastern Taiwan could still see heavy showers or localized downpours.
Saturated mountain soil remained prone to landslides, rockfalls and debris flows, it said.
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