Climate and Natural Disasters

Volunteers Help Flood Cleanup Efforts During Mid-Autumn Festival Holiday

Published

By Fuhua Hung/Irene Lin

Open in App

Over 25,000 volunteers from all over have pitched in to help with cleanup operations in flood-hit Guangfu Township in Hualien over the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend. While most of the town is cleared, there’s still much work to be done on the drainage system and outlying farmland and homes.

Voicing their gratitude through this traditional song, the Fatan’an Indigenous people of Guangfu township in Hualien are singing to the over 25 thousand volunteers who spent their Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend helping them restore their homes to the way they were before devastating flash floods swept over the town last month.

[Volunteers] selflessly came to help us with repairs and disaster relief. We offer our Fatan’an people’s highest honor to show our thanks for these people who came from all over.

The main task on this holiday was clearing the gutters, vital to drain off the muddy water from hosing down houses and streets, and to prevent flooding from another potential dam breach or typhoon downpour.

Since the southern bank is lower, water naturally flows toward the south. So, we’re dredging here. We need to figure out how to direct the water slightly toward the northern bank. We’ve started clearing the gutters but these are only [small channels]. The water still needs to be discharged. But [the drainage outlets] are still blocked even though the streets look clean. 

(No one is helping us!)

Residents on one of the outlying streets shouted their grievances at President Lai Ching-te when he came to check on cleanup progress.

This is the second time Lai visited Guangfu to oversee recovery operations. He had previously ordered that most of the town be brought back to normal before this holiday weekend.

Besides thanking the volunteers who’ve spent their holiday helping the town, Lai also emphasized that there will be financial compensation for the flood victims, while officials keep working on flood prevention and finding ways to deal with the high-risk barrier lake that caused the flash floods in the first place.

How we resolve the barrier lake issue in the long run relies on experts, scholars and water resources officials. But there’s still work to be done before that. That includes building levees and deeper water troughs, monitoring the water flow on the riverbed, and developing an evacuation plan.

But the township head also raised concerns about the locals’ livelihood and the local economy.

Guangfu has no commercial activity at all right now. No bento shops, no supermarkets, not even convenience stores. Many businesses don’t want to reopen after this disaster. If this continues, Guangfu will become desolate. I hope [the central government] can provide support to revive local agriculture and businesses soon.

While the center of the town is cleared, outlying communities that bore the brunt of the floods are still waiting for help to clear their buried farmland and homes, and hoping to celebrate having their lives back on track before the next holiday season.

Fuhua Hung and Irene Lin for TaiwanPlus.