00:00Tidying up his beloved home with his missing doors and windows,
00:0580-year-old Anga Lo-O has been living on this property in Fata'an Village,
00:09an indigenous Taiwanese community in eastern Taiwan,
00:12since he was only six years old, and he insists on staying.
00:17But after a burial lake up in the mountains bursts his banks,
00:20sending destructive flash floods downstream,
00:23his family and neighbors' lives have been completely upended.
00:26Cracks and holes in the ceiling and a water stain on the wall
00:30serve as constant reminders of the danger from that day,
00:34when the flood nearly drowned him.
00:56A wooden house built by his father used to stand here.
01:00But the house and all the memory-filled objects inside,
01:03including books that he used to teach the Amis language when he was younger,
01:07were washed away by the flash floods.
01:09For almost a week,
01:39Anga's family had no idea where he was, embraced for the worst.
01:44It was a huge relief to the family when they reunited,
01:47but their home is no longer the same.
01:49The government is offering a piece of public land for interim housing,
02:17for people whose houses are almost uninhabitable.
02:21But Fata'an village says the location is several kilometers away from their village,
02:26threatening their societal function and traditions,
02:29as shown by a self-help group formed by young people driven by their sense of duty.
02:34Instead, they're proposing that the government rents one of their ancestral lands,
02:38which sits in the middle of town and is owned by one of the villagers.
02:42But our village needs to be a community,
02:45a self-help group,
02:47to allow the whole village,
02:49not because of such a flood,
02:51and the whole community is divided,
02:53and divided,
02:53and you can see the東 and the西.
02:55So our village will be able to establish this place.
02:59When we heard that we were able to go to the ground,
03:02they didn't realize it was too late.
03:04It was too late,
03:05and there were a lot of people who were not familiar,
03:07The legislature has passed a special budget for the flood disaster in Guangfu,
03:18with a maximum of 970 million U.S. dollars.
03:22It also stated that local community and culture should be respected in any decision to rebuild the town.
03:29As the government evaluates different spots for interim housing,
03:32the local indigenous community will make sure they speak up for themselves.
03:36Devin Tsai, Luffy Lee, Alec McDonald, and Irene Lin in Hualien for Taiwan Plus.
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