Repair work underway on Hualien levees, height to be raised to 5 meters

Taipei, Oct. 3 (CNA) The Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) said Friday that damaged levees in Hualien County are being repaired and will be raised to 5 meters, following a recent severe storm that caused deadly flooding.

The 3-meter-high damaged levees along Matai'an Creek are being repaired and reinforced with a three-layer protection system, which is expected to be completed by Saturday, the CEOC said.

After the repairs, work will continue to raise them to 5 meters, with completion expected by Oct. 11, the center added.

Heavy rainfall from Typhoon Ragasa on Sept. 23 caused a barrier lake on Matai'an Creek to overflow, damaging levees totaling 2,860 meters and triggering severe flooding in Guangfu, Wanrong, and Fenglin townships.

The CEOC said a drone survey found no abnormalities in the barrier lake, but due to sediment buildup in the downstream river, a red alert remains in effect for the area.

Matai'an Creek's barrier lake now covers 12.6 hectares and holds roughly 5.9 million cubic meters of water -- about 6.4 percent of its original volume before the overflow.

The CEOC said personnel, with assistance from the National Air Service Corps, have been deployed to the barrier lake to install underwater topography sensors, and warnings will be issued if 24-hour rainfall exceeds 100 millimeters or earthquakes of magnitude 5 or higher are recorded.

As of 3:30 p.m., the center said 264 people are in shelters at five different locations, including 184 at Dajin Elementary School, with no reported outbreaks of illnesses.

According to the latest CEOC data, the severe flooding killed 18 people, injured 157, and left six others missing.