Hualien Barrier Lake Bursts for Third Time as Tropical Storm Fung Wong Passes

Guangfu Township in eastern Hualien is once again under flood alert as the Matai’an barrier lake bursts for the third time this year.

Transcript

00:00Though it weakened after landfall, Feng Wang caused flash floods that inundated an indigenous village in the east.

00:06Now a new barrier lake has formed up in the mountains and is threatening to burst.

00:11Our reporter Irene Lin is live from Mingli village. Irene, what's the situation there?

00:18Yes, Yvonne, we're once again on this higher ground in Mingli village on the north bank of the Matan River.

00:25And as you can see, behind me, the floods have started to flow down.

00:30And Hualien's Forestry Agency sent a warning this morning that a new barrier lake formed overnight and now it has burst.

00:38They said it formed after the upstream part of the Matan River bank collapsed.

00:42Now the debris piled into the river channel and blocked the water.

00:46Here's what the agency's director said this morning.

00:49Yes,

01:20Now, we've also got a first-hand image showing the Water Resources Agency's excavators

01:26still working on dredging the river as of today's 11 a.m.

01:30But as a wave of flash flooding is on its way,

01:33the personnel and heavy machinery are pulling out as we speak.

01:37Now, the three townships that surround the Ma Tai'an River are on high alert today.

01:41And among them, Guangfu Township was supposed to resume classes and work

01:45and let evacuees go home.

01:47But as you can see that after this new flood, this new flood risk,

01:53the people here are once again on their toes and ready to flee.

01:59Thanks, Irene.

02:00That was Irene Lin live from Hualien County.

02:02Stay tuned for more updates.