A new barrier lake has formed on the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in Hualien County and is expected to overflow before 10am today, local authorities said yesterday.
The new lake has a capacity of about 600,000 tonnes of water — far smaller than the main barrier lake about 1km upstream, the Hualien County Government said.
The breach of the larger dam last month amid Super Typhoon Ragasa killed 19 people in downstream areas.
Photo courtesy of the Hualien branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency
As of yesterday morning, the new lake held about 100,000 tonnes of water, but was expected to reach capacity within 24 hours amid persistent rain, officials said.
As a precaution, the county ordered all machinery and personnel to leave the river area immediately, while residents in low-lying areas of Guangfu Township’s (光復) Dama Village (大馬) were evacuated.
A temporary access road near the Mataian River Bridge on Provincial Highway No. 9 would be closed if necessary and people are advised to plan alternative routes in advance, the county said.
Photo courtesy of the Highway Bureau
As the soil forming the barrier is soft, the new lake is expected to drain within 24 hours, raising the water level downstream at the Mataian River Bridge by 50cm to 70cm, said Huang Chun-tse (黃群策), director of the Hualien branch of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency.
Elsewhere in Hualien County, Taroko National Park remained closed to the public as excavation work on a barrier lake on the Liwu River (立霧溪) continued, the agency said.
The risk posed by the dam, which was created by a landslide that was discovered on Friday last week, prompted the evacuation of more than 900 residents, and the closure of Taroko and part of Provincial Highway No. 8.
After rainfall on Monday night, the Liwu River lake’s level rose from 4.8m below the top of the natural dam the previous day to 2.94m below, Huang told reporters.
Operations at the site are focused on clearing out space for workers to evacuate to in case of flooding, Huang said.
The ultimate goal is to clear 10m of material from the top of the dam so that it is lower than the adjacent Provincial Highway No. 8, he said.
As falling rocks are a continuous hazard in the area, the work has been broken up into stages and it is unclear when each would be completed, he added.
Heavy rain advisories were issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) from yesterday morning through early this morning.
Torrential rain advisories, warning of rainfall exceeding 350mm in 24 hours, or more than 200mm in three hours, were issued for Keelung and mountainous areas of Taipei, New Taipei City and Yilan County.
Extremely heavy rain, exceeding 200mm in 24 hours or 100mm in three hours, were forecast for Taipei, New Taipei City and Yilan County, as well as mountainous areas in Taoyuan and Hsinchu County.
In Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County and Hualien County, the CWA issued heavy rain advisories, warning of rain expected to exceed 80mm within 24 hours or 40mm in one hour.
CWA forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping (官欣平) said that the rain would be heaviest yesterday and today, but precipitation might persist into Friday and Saturday.
Additional reporting by Kayleigh Madjar
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