Hualien: Volunteers returned in droves to Hualien County’s Guangfu Township on Saturday, the first day of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, trading shovels for brooms, squeegees, and electrical tools as they helped residents clean homes and restore utilities.
According to Focus Taiwan, more than 1,800 households in Guangfu were affected by flooding after a barrier lake on Matai’an Creek overflowed on Sept. 23. Thanks to volunteer efforts to remove mud from homes, the first phase of the cleanup is nearly complete, and work has entered a new stage focused on detailed cleaning and utility repairs.
Taiwan Railway reported that more than 20,000 volunteers from around Taiwan had arrived at Guangfu Station by noon Saturday, many wearing rainboots and carrying brooms, mops, and hoses.
Lin, an electrician from Tainan, noted that replacing outlets and light switches should only take about half a day per household. However, he expressed concern that mud had seeped into the wiring and damaged protective casings, increasing the risk of future short circuits.
He therefore recommended that residents replace all wiring, which would take at least a full day.
