HUALIEN, Taiwan — A decades-old barrier holding back a mountain lake burst under the onslaught of Super Typhoon Ragasa, unleashing a deadly flood that killed at least 14 people in eastern Taiwan and left more than 100 missing, authorities said Wednesday.
The torrent of water swept away a bridge and inundated a town in Hualien County after the typhoon dumped torrential rains across the island, compounding the chaos from one of the region’s fiercest storms this season.
“As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, 14 people are confirmed dead and 18 injured,” Hualien County press officer Lee Kuan-ting told The Associated Press. Rescuers were scrambling to locate 30 people initially reported missing, but firefighting authorities later raised that figure to 124 as reports poured in from the stricken area.
Floodwaters surged as high as the second floor of homes in parts of the town on Tuesday, stranding about 263 residents. Officials said those people were not in immediate danger and were instructed to remain in place until the waters receded.
Dramatic footage released by the local fire agency captured the devastation: streets turned into raging rivers, cars half-submerged in muddy torrents, and trees uprooted by the force of the deluge.
Ragasa, a super typhoon packing heavy rains and powerful winds, lashed the northern Philippines before slamming into Taiwan on Monday. It forced evacuations across the island, with more than 7,600 people fleeing their homes. In Hualien, around 3,100 residents near a swollen creek were moved to safety with relatives ahead of the storm’s peak.
Taiwan’s rugged terrain and position in the Pacific make it prone to tropical storms, especially from July to October. Just weeks earlier, Typhoon Danas struck the island in early July, killing two people and injuring hundreds as it unleashed more than 20 inches of rain across the south over a single weekend.
Rescue operations continued Wednesday amid forecasts of lingering showers, with authorities warning of potential landslides in the typhoon’s aftermath.
