Typhoon Ragasa takes aim at China, hitting its southern coast
\n HUALIEN
\nResidents in an eastern Taiwan town where flooding from a strong typhoon killed 14 people took to shelters on Wednesday, fearing further disaster, as Premier Cho Jung-tai called for an inquiry into what went wrong with evacuation orders.
\nSub-tropical Taiwan, frequently hit by typhoons, normally has a well-oiled disaster mechanism that averts mass casualties by moving people out of potential danger zones quickly.
\nBut many residents in Guangfu, an inundated town in the beauty spot of Hualien thronged by tourists, said there was insufficient warning when the lake overflowed during Tuesday\u2019s torrential rains brought by Super Typhoon Ragasa.
\nCho said the immediate priority was to find the 129 still missing \u2014 a number that climbed to 152 after he spoke \u2014 but questions remained.
\n\u201cFor the 14 who have tragically passed away, we must investigate why evacuation orders were not carried out in the designated areas,\u201d he told reporters in Guangfu.
\n\u201cThis is not about assigning blame, but about uncovering the truth.\u201d
\nThe barrier lake, formed by landslides triggered by earlier heavy rain in the island\u2019s sparsely populated east, burst its banks to send a wall of water into Guangfu.
\nAs heavy rain continued on and off in Hualien, police cars sounded sirens for a new flood warning in Guangfu on Wednesday, sending people scrambling for safer areas as residents and rescuers shouted, \u201cThe flood waters are coming, run fast.\u201d
\n\u201cWe will not return until the overflow is finished or the risk of it bursting is reduced. It\u2019s too dangerous,\u201d said a woman who gave her family name as Tsai from a packed emergency shelter in an elementary school.
\nDeputy disaster command centre chief Huang Chao-chin said with rainfall easing and much of the water from the lake already released, he did not expect a repeat of Tuesday\u2019s mass flooding.
\nLamen Panay, a Hualien councillor, said government evacuation requests before the flood had not been mandatory.
\nReferring to guidance for people to head to higher floors, she said, \u201cWhat we were facing wasn\u2019t something \u2018vertical evacuation\u2019 could resolve.\u201d
\nTaiwan has been lashed since Monday by the outer rim of Typhoon Ragasa, which was downgraded from a super typhoon and is now hitting China\u2019s southern coast and the Asian financial hub of Hong Kong.
\n\u2018Like tsunami\u2019
\nThe water hit like a \u201ctsunami\u201d, said Guangfu postman Hsieh Chien-tung, who was able to flee to the second floor of the post office just in time. Later, he got home to find his car had been swept into the living-room.
\nFire officials said all the dead and missing were in Guangfu, where the waters destroyed a major road bridge across a river.
\nRegions across Taiwan have dispatched rescue teams to Hualien, with the military sending 340 troops to help.
\nIn Guangfu, soldiers operating from an armoured personnel carrier to keep clear of thick mud in the streets went door-to-door handing out water and instant noodles. Wrecked cars and scooters were littered around.
\nAbout 5,200 people, or 60% of the population, sought shelter on the higher floors of their own homes while most of the rest left to stay with families, government data showed.
\nThe government said the overflow of the barrier lake released about 60 million tonnes of an estimated 91 million tonnes of water, enough to fill about 36,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
\nChina\u2019s Taiwan Affairs Office offered condolences, in a rare sign of goodwill from Beijing, which has a deep dislike of Taipei\u2019s government.
\nChina views Taiwan as its own territory, despite the strong objections of the island\u2019s democratically-elected government. Besides the wilderness beauty that makes it one of Taiwan\u2019s top tourist draws, Hualien is also home to many members of the island\u2019s indigenous groups, including the Amis.
\nThe typhoon brought about 70cm (28 inches) of rain to Taiwan\u2019s east, though the populous west coast, home to the crucial semiconductor industry, was not affected.
\nIn 2009, Typhoon Morakot brought destruction to Taiwan\u2019s south, killing about 700 and causing damage of up to $3 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Typhoon Ragasa takes aim at China, hitting its southern coast HUALIEN Residents in an eastern Taiwan town where flooding from a strong typhoon killed 14 people took to shelters on Wednesday, fearing further disaster, as Premier Cho Jung-tai called for an inquiry into what went wrong with evacuation orders. Sub-tropical Taiwan, frequently hit by typhoons, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504883,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-504873","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n