Hualien evacuates 7 communities to prevent barrier lake overflow disaster

Taipei, June 27 (CNA) The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency's (FANCA) Hualien Branch announced on Saturday that seven communities within the proximity of the newly formed barrier lake upstream of the Wanli River have been preemptively evacuated to prevent a disaster as the lake was at risk of overflowing.

FANCA first imposed an alert in the area at 7:25 a.m., warning that the barrier lake could overflow within 48 hours.

The agency then upgraded the severity of the alert at 12 p.m., warning of the possibility that the barrier lake could overflow within 24 hours instead.

In response, FANCA said, the authorities evacuated around 200 residents from about 70 households in seven villages across the county's Wanrong and Fenglin townships.

The evacuated individuals have tentatively been placed in large public buildings including schools, hospitals and locations with assembly halls or amphitheaters.

Three bridges to the areas have also been closed as a precaution.

FANCA further explained that, based on the weather forecast from Taiwan's Central Weather Administration and the local measurements taken from the barrier lake for calculations, the estimated rainfall could accumulate to 58 millimeters within the next 24-48 hours, which warrants the alerts.

Additionally, FANCA explained that the preventive evacuations were necessary because, based on observations from Friday evening and Saturday morning, there seems to be no sign of the rain easing up in the area.

The agency went on to say that aerial surveys carried out to better confirm the status of the barrier lake could not be initiated at the moment due to thick clouds in the area, but current estimates are that the lake is at between 40 and 60 percent capacity.

FANCA also implored local emergency response departments to continue monitoring the barrier lake so as to safeguard the well-being of neighboring communities.

The newly formed lake is roughly 7 kilometers north of where the Matai'an barrier lake burst in September 2025. The breach left 19 people dead and flooded over 1,600 homes in Guangfu Township, which is just to the south of Wanrong Township.

In a radio interview on Tuesday, Minister Without Portfolio Chi Lien-cheng (季連成) had said that the barrier lake is located about 20 kilometers upstream from Wanrong Township, at an elevation of roughly 1,000 meters.

Its estimated capacity is 6 million cubic meters of water, and an overflow could erode the natural dam and trigger a breach, with as little as 1.5 million cubic meters of water capable of causing a significant downstream impact, Chi had said.