Premier: Step up disaster response for Hualien flooding, rescue the missing

At the Cabinet's weekly meeting Thursday, Premier Cho Jung-tai received briefings from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of the Interior on the impacts of Typhoon Ragasa and the overflow of the Matai'an Creek Barrier Lake in Hualien County. The premier instructed the Central Emergency Operations Center to maintain close communication with Hualien County's Emergency Operations Center in order to seize the critical early window for rescue efforts and make every effort to locate missing persons. The premier noted that many fatalities occurred on the ground floor, and in addition to expressing his deepest condolences, he emphasized the need to investigate the causes of death to improve evacuation procedures in the future.

To accelerate recovery operations and help residents return to their normal lives as soon as possible, the premier said the Executive Yuan has established a forward coordination post. This post links the Central Emergency Operations Center with local disaster response efforts to jointly mobilize all available resources, ensuring that relevant ministries and agencies can continue responding promptly to ongoing developments and expedite recovery and reconstruction.

Premier Cho directed the Ministry of Agriculture to swiftly restore water level monitoring at the dam wall of the barrier lake-weather and personnel safety permitting-so as to enable accurate, technology-based surveillance. He also instructed the ministry to promptly assess and formulate mid- to long-term measures for discharging the remaining water in the barrier lake, with the aim of reducing the water pressure on the dam. Until the situation is fully resolved, the government must continually update all scenario simulations, dynamically adjust alert and response mechanisms, and refine early warning systems. Furthermore, it must carry out preventive evacuations when necessary to mitigate the effects of potential disasters.

The premier stressed that this challenge highlights the need to strengthen the nation's national resilience and disaster prevention systems, and more importantly, to focus on conducting comprehensive reviews and implementing effective measures to prepare for such scenarios in the future.