Schools, offices in Guangfu Township closed; evacuation order issued

Hualien, Nov. 10 (CNA) The Hualien County Government on Monday announced the closure of schools and offices in Guangfu Township, while residents in some parts of the township have been ordered to evacuate due to the risk of flooding and landslides, as Typhoon Fung-Wong approaches Taiwan.

The landslide alert was issued for Guangfu Township's Dama, Daping, Dongfu, Datong, Daan, Dahua, and Beifu villages, as well as Fenglin and Wanrung townships.

Residents of those areas are advised to evacuate and find safe shelters as soon as possible, the county government said.

In particular, people living near Matai'an Creek and in other areas that were damaged when the Matai'an Creek Barrier Lake broke in September should evacuate immediately, taking their IDs, medication, and valuable items, and carrying no more than one piece of luggage each, the authorities said

In late September, the overflow of the breached barrier lake caused severe flooding in Guangfu Township, claiming 19 lives, and leaving five people missing and 157 injured, while more than 1,600 households were affected by mudslides.

The county government's announcement of the school and office closures in Guangfu on Monday followed a warning by the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FNCA) the previous day that a new barrier lake could form near the township if three extreme conditions occur simultaneously due to the typhoon.

The conditions are 24-hour accumulated rainfall of 800 millimeters, the collapse of the existing Matai'an Creek barrier lake that holds about 1.5 million cubic meters of water, and a massive slope landslide that blocks the river channel, the FNCA said.

If those conditions occur, a lake would form, holding about 15 million cubic meters of water, and a breach could unleash floodwaters at a peak rate of around 4,500 cubic meters per second, the FNCA estimated.

The warnings were issued due to the approach of Typhoon Fung-Wong, which was located about 580 kilometers south of Taiwan as of 2 a.m. on Monday, moving northwest to north-northwest at 14 kilometers per hour, with maximum sustained winds of 144 kph and gusts of up to 180 kph.