Hualien: A three-stage evacuation plan has been finalized for residents of Hualien County’s Guangfu, Fenglin, and Wanrong townships in anticipation of a tropical storm forming over the weekend, a Central Emergency Operations Center (CEOC) official said Thursday.
According to Focus Taiwan, the plan includes a landslide lake alert and forced vertical evacuation, which could be activated if necessary. CEOC chief coordinator Chi Lien-cheng stated via video conference after a Cabinet meeting that the first phase would involve relocating elderly residents, those living alone, and dialysis patients to hospitals or designated shelters.
The next step mandates the evacuation of residents living in single-story homes to shelters, while the third phase requires those in multistory houses to take vertical shelter on upper floors. Chi explained that the first phase would commence once accumulated rainfall reaches 200 millimeters within 24 hours. An alert, similar to an air raid siren, would be issued if the water level at Matai’an Creek barrier lake rises to one meter.
The evacuation plan follows the recent collapse of the Matai’an Creek barrier lake in late September, which resulted in extensive downstream flooding and at least 19 fatalities. Chi emphasized the strict enforcement of the evacuation, with teams of officials, military, police, and fire personnel going door to door to implement the measures.
As part of the ongoing recovery efforts, volunteers will be barred from entering disaster areas in Hualien starting Saturday. To prevent further flooding, the levees along Matai’an Creek have been raised to five meters, and sandbags will be placed at potential overflow points.
According to the Central Weather Administration (CWA), a weather system near Guam could intensify into a tropical depression on Friday and potentially develop into a tropical storm by Saturday. Forecast models suggest the system will pass between the Bashi Channel and Luzon in the northern Philippines, continuing westward toward China’s Hainan Province, with rain expected across Taiwan starting Sunday.
