Evacuation alerts for major mudslides and floods, including those involving barrier lakes, are to be upgraded to a higher state of emergency at the same level as tsunami warnings, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said yesterday.
The decision was announced at a Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) meeting, after heavy rain from Super Typhoon Ragasa on Tuesday caused a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) to burst and flood Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復), leaving 17 people dead and seven missing as of yesterday morning.
The National Fire Agency and the National Police Agency are to review their standard operating procedures and incorporate barrier lake evacuations into their alert systems, Liu said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Emergency Operation Center
Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Lai Chien-hsin (賴建信) added that three alarm stations would be set up near barrier lakes, which would sound nine five-second alarms to signal evacuations in case of emergencies.
Aerial video indicated that the top of the barrier lake dam had dropped from a height of 200m to 82m, a CEOC report said.
The lake’s surface area has decreased from 140 hectares to 13.5 hectares, holding 6 million cubic meters of water — 6.6 percent of its original volume before the overflow, the report said.
The CEOC said the area remains under a “red alert,” with erosion from the lake’s outflow and continued rainfall creating unstable slopes.
Meanwhile, a judicial investigation is under way to determine possible negligence by government officials, as people affected by the flooding demanded accountability for property damage and the loss of life.
“We did not have any warning, did not hear any broadcast asking people to evacuate, nor did we hear anything from the village warden or the neighborhood contact person,” a Datong Village (大同) resident surnamed Liu (劉) said.
Liu said he lost his mother, a cousin and another relative in the disaster.
Some Guangfu residents said they heard warnings on the public address system or received an emergency alert on their cellphones on Tuesday last week.
Guangfu Township Mayor Lin Ching-shui (林清水) said that local officials reported problems with the public address system, so he coordinated with police and firefighters to drive through neighborhoods with loudspeakers broadcasting orders to evacuate on Tuesday last week at 7:30am and again at 11:30am.
Liu and other residents said that many elderly residents have difficulty hearing, adding that the announcements were difficult to hear through walls and doors.
In Dama Village (大馬), which is upstream of Mataian River, were evacuated two days prior to the lake barrier bursting.
Dama Village Warden Wang Tzu-an (王梓安) said they were in constant contact with the central government and weather bureau officials, and were warned of possible flash flooding several days earlier.
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