Without an updated evacuation plan, the government is unable to lift the red alert for Hualien County’s Guangfu Township (光復) amid danger from the barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪), the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said.
The barrier lake overflowed on Sept. 23 due to excessive rainfall from Typhoon Ragasa, killing 19 people and injuring hundreds more. Homes were also damaged by tonnes of mud carried by floodwaters, with the cumulative dredged materials reaching 90,000 tonnes.
The amount of water in the barrier lake has dropped to 1.7 percent of the original capacity, greatly reducing the risks, the agency said.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s Hualien branch
Guangfu Township levees have been stabilized to withstand water from the barrier lake, but an evacuation plan must be in place and approved by Hualien County Commissioner Hsu Cheng-wei (徐榛蔚) before the red alert can be lifted, it said.
Hualien County Government Research and Administrative Department Director Chen Chien-tsuen (陳建村) said that they are compiling an evacuation plan for 8,000 people in three townships, adding that they are not considering asking people to seek shelter on higher floors of buildings, also known as vertical evacuation.
Guangfu Township has about 10 shelters, which could accommodate about 1,334 people, Chen said.
However, the county has neither the capacity nor enough personnel to execute the evacuation plan, he added.
Chen cited Article 35-2 of the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act (災害防救法), which stipulates that if a municipal, or county (city) government fails to cope with a disaster, the central government must send people to provide support, or assign coordinators to provide support and assistance, as requested by the special municipal, or county (city) government.
In response, Minister Without Portfolio Chi Lien-cheng (季連成), the chief coordinator of disaster relief efforts in Hualien County, said that the county government must compile a list of all resources available in Hualien, including tour buses and personnel, to evacuate the 8,000 people in the three townships.
“Hualien still has 10 other townships that can offer assistance. Resources would always be lacking if you only plan at the township level. If more resources are needed after the inventory check, the central government can help by finding resources in other localities,” Chi said.
A total of 8,524 people in Guangfu, Wanrong (萬榮) and Fonglin (鳳林) townships need to be evacuated in case of flooding caused by an overflow of the barrier lake, the county said.
These include 147 people on the priority list — elderly people, children and those who are physically challenged, it said.
Separately, Minister of the Interior Liu Shih-fang (劉世芳) said that the central emergency response center still maintains a Level-1 response status, adding that there would a simulation of the evacuation plan.
“The disaster zone has severe road damage, and many people still stay in the shelters. We are asking Hualien County and the three townships to list all the flood survivors and their locations, so we can effectively execute the evacuation plan,” Liu said.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS