Typhoon Bavi Leaves Battered Infrastructure in Taiwan's Mountains
Typhoon Bavi has hit roads and other infrastructure hard in Taiwan's mountains, leaving people in some communities stranded and people in others worried about their livelihoods. Amid this cleanup, airlines and officials are working to clear bottlenecks at airports and get people stuck during the typhoon where they need to go.
Hsinchu Mountains Ravaged by Floods Following Typhoon Bavi
REPORTER:
Floodwaters ravage the mountains of Hsinchu County in northern Taiwan, causing landslides, dam breaches and the destruction of roads. Power and internet access are unstable, and people have been cut off from help. Typhoon Bavi may be past, but the towns and villages that dot these mountains are only just now taking stock of the damage.
REPORTER:
The Indigenous community of Smangus is among the many places across Taiwan’s mountains where fixing roads is a priority.
Zeng Guo-dai (JIANSHI TOWNSHIP HEAD):
There are around 100 people living in Smangus.
They have enough supplies to last around two days.
We’re staying in close touch with Smangus.
REPORTER:
It’s a similar story in the mountains of Taiwan’s south. In the indigenous community of Meilan, Kaohsiung, a whole mountain slope has collapsed under the sheer volume of rain. And while lives aren’t necessarily at stake here, livelihoods are. The people who live here evacuated in time—but found their farmhouse a wreck on their return. Borrowed construction equipment is their hope for now.
Ms. Yu (LOCAL RESIDENT):
The water pumps and everything were all inside.
So this morning we asked someone here who has equipment
and started using it right away.
As we were working, [the slope] collapsed a second time.
REPORTER:
At Taiwan’s airports, the typhoon has created large bottlenecks. Airlines canceled more than a thousand international and 400 domestic flights during the storm. At Taiwan’s main gateway in Taoyuan Sunday, there were many stories of abrupt changes of plan.
Ms. Tai (TRAVELER):
We had communication issues
because people took the day off work for the typhoon.
We had some trouble talking with the airline.
Mr. Miao (TRAVELER):
I’d already booked the hotel
and there was no way to get a refund.
I was sorting that out the day before yesterday.
REPORTER:
At smaller airports, it’s even worse. On Sunday, there were still around 50 people on standby in the main airport serving the Penghu Islands. And in the Matsu Islands, where the weather was still bad, flights were still canceled, leading to some talk of pressing military planes into service Monday to help ease the bottleneck. Taiwan's aviation authority is working to help airlines add flights to their schedules or use bigger planes to get stranded passengers home—something that may still take time.
