Hualien townships finalize evacuation plan as tropical storm looms

Taipei, Oct. 16 (CNA) A three-stage evacuation plan has been finalized for residents of Hualien County's Guangfu, Fenglin and Wanrong townships in anticipation of a tropical storm forming over the weekend, a Central Emergency Operations Center (CEOC) official said Thursday.

In order to prepare for the storm's possible formation, a landslide lake alert and forced vertical evacuation could be activated if necessary, CEOC chief coordinator Chi Lien-cheng (季連成) said via video conference after a Cabinet meeting.

Chi said the first phase would involve relocating elderly residents, those living alone and dialysis patients to hospitals or designated shelters.

The next step would mandate the evacuation of residents living in single-story homes and place them in shelters, while the third phase would require those in multistory houses to take vertical shelter on upper floors, he added.

As for when the three-stage evacuation plan would be activated, Chi said the first phase would begin once accumulated rainfall reaches 200 millimeters within 24 hours.

He added that if the water level at Matai'an Creek barrier lake rises to one meter, an alert similar to an air raid siren would be issued. 

The planned evacuation follows the collapse of the Matai'an Creek barrier lake in late September, which caused extensive downstream flooding, killing at least 19 people.

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Chi said the evacuation would be carried out with strict enforcement, with teams of officials, military, police and fire personnel going door to door to carry out the measure.

Meanwhile, volunteers helping out the recovery efforts from the Matai'an Creek barrier lake collapse will be barred from entering disaster areas in Hualien beginning Saturday.

The levees along Matai'an Creek have been raised to five meters in height, he said, and that sandbags will also be added at various potential overflow points.

According to the Central Weather Administration (CWA), a system near Guam could strengthen into a tropical depression on Friday and become a tropical storm on Saturday.

Based on various forecast models, the system is expected to pass between the Bashi Channel and Luzon in the northern Philippines and continue westward toward China's Hainan Province, the CWA said, predicting rain across Taiwan starting Sunday.