00:00At the official one-stop service desk set up by the Cabinet in Guangfu, flood victims line up to apply for subsidies and missing documents.
00:08Officials have approved more than 90 percent of the applications submitted by local households and are preparing to return to the regional headquarters.
00:17It's now been three weeks since Typhoon Rokasa brought torrential rains to eastern Taiwan,
00:22leading to a barrier lake in Hualien's mountains overflowing and flooding downstream communities and farms.
00:28Authorities have not yet lowered their highest level alert for the lake.
00:33Before they can do that, officials first need to finalize an emergency evacuation plan and practice it with local residents.
00:41Authorities say they're still working with the county government on some details.
00:44While the streets and homes are cleared up, local farmers are worried about their livelihoods, as their fields remain buried in mud.
01:05The Agriculture Ministry says researchers have found little damage to the soil underneath, and that it will not affect growth in the future.
01:14But questions remain on how to deal with the mud, and potentially how to divide and redistribute the plots.
01:20包括光阜跟凤苓,兩邊的這些農地被淹沒的,
01:25大概總面積大概將近775到800公頃左右.
01:30有的是大概幾十公分,有的是甚至可以達到五六米的部分。
01:35全部移 μ's is the only big工程,因為600萬噸的這些土砂,
01:42你必須要有站字點,然後这个清除時間也非常非常的長,可能三年.
01:47As of Monday, 19 people are confirmed dead, and five remain missing.
02:10But things are looking up in Guangfu.
02:12Since the disaster, the local train station has seen unprecedented traffic,
02:17from about 1,000 travelers a day before the storm to a recent peak of 50,000,
02:22thanks to volunteers from all over coming to help.
02:26At the Matai An River, a temporary river crossing was finally opened on Friday,
02:31which has allowed larger vehicles to access the area.
02:35Now with the initial recovery work wrapping up and some traffic beginning to flow again,
02:39the next stage may involve bringing home displaced residents,
02:43even as restoring their livelihoods could be a years-long effort.
02:47Chris Ma and Irene Lin for Taiwan Plus.
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