Disaster Recovery in Guangfu Township
REPORTER:
An army of volunteers has spent weeks in eastern Taiwan’s Guangfu Township cleaning up. A dam here got overwhelmed amid a typhoon in late September, sending a violent surge of water into the nearby town. At least 18 people died.
REPORTER:
People from across the country have shown up with shovels to help the recovery. And there’s been steady progress. Around 90% of local roads are now cleared.
REPORTER:
And despite flood damage, nearly all local homes are dug out of the mud. Residents are back to gather whatever mementos of their old lives may have survived.
Ms. Chou (RESIDENT):
We lived in this house for seven or eight years. Everything’s destroyed. Of course, I hope to cherish [what’s left]. But we don’t have many old photos because we were poor back then.
REPORTER:
School will be back in session soon, too. The local vocational high school will have online classes until it reopens on the 13th. And the middle school will reopen even sooner, on Tuesday.
School Official (VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL):
Our school is about 90% recovered. I believe we can get up to 100% in the next day or two.
REPORTER:
But healing and closure may take more time. Six people are still missing, among them Lin Ching-yi's parents. She sprays one of their favorite perfumes into the mud—hopeful they may still be found.
Lin Ching-yi (FAMILY MEMBER OF MISSING PERSONS):
It’s really hard on us but it must have been even harder on them in the mud as it dried.The government must not stop [the search] because there are many people who haven’t been dug out not just my parents. There must be more. So we're begging the government not to stop.
REPORTER:
The fire department says it won’t stop looking. But with many buried areas still in ruins, finding anything could be a big task.
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