One of two teams dispatched on foot by the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Hualien branch to survey potential routes to a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) reported widespread devastation in its initial findings on Sunday.
When the barrier lake burst during Typhoon Ragasa on Sept. 23, it unleashed massive floods into Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復), killing 18 people and blanketing the area in mud and debris.
To identify safe access routes for future reconstruction, maintenance and fortification work, the agency’s Hualien branch on Tuesday last week deployed a task force comprising two survey teams to visit the site.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Hualien branch
The teams were assigned to examine the remnants of the lake and search for potential routes that could allow construction equipment to reach the area, the agency said.
Composed of professionals from the agency, the Taiwan Mountain Rescue Association’s Eastern Search and Rescue Committee, and the association’s High Altitude Corps, the 15-member task force split into two groups hiking toward the barrier lake via forest trails in Guangfu and Wanrong (萬榮) townships.
As there are no clear routes to the barrier lake, team members had to traverse difficult terrain and rappel across areas destabilized by landslides, the agency said.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Hualien branch
It added that deploying two teams would allow it to gather more comprehensive geographical and environmental data based on the images the teams gathered.
The information would be used to enhance safety in future reconstruction efforts, and in establishing disaster prevention and monitoring infrastructure.
The first team to reach the remnants of the barrier lake — a group of nine members entering from Guangfu Township — arrived at noon on Sunday, the agency said.
However, due to weak telecommunications in the mountains, they were only able to send back a few images.
From the photos received, the area appeared barren and shrouded in haze, with dust in the air making it difficult for the task force members to breathe, it said.
The agency said the Guangfu team had completed its initial surveys and begun the return journey.
The members are expected to submit all the photographs they took after returning home, likely on Thursday, it said.
The overall mission is expected to last eight to 10 days, with the second team — a six-member group that entered from Wanrong Township — also expected to return within a similar timeframe.
As of yesterday morning, the barrier lake retained about 5.85 million tonnes of water, about 6.4 percent of its pre-overflow volume, said Chi Lien-cheng (季連成), chief coordinator at the Central Emergency Operations Center.
The lake remains under a red alert, he added.
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