Typhoon Ragasa: 14 Dead, 124 Missing As Lake Barrier Bursts In Taiwan

Typhoon Ragasa: 14 Dead, 124 Missing As Lake Barrier Bursts In Taiwan

Part of the bridge over Mataian Creek destroyed after a barrier lake burst in Taiwan's Hualien

A government official confirmed Wednesday that at least 14 individuals perished when an aging lake barrier collapsed in Taiwan following the intense rainfall brought by Super Typhoon Ragasa.

Super Typhoon Ragasa struck Taiwan and the northern Philippines on Monday, bringing severe weather conditions that included torrential downpours and powerful winds, necessitating the evacuation of thousands of residents.

On Tuesday, the barrier lake in eastern Hualien county failed catastrophically, destroying a bridge and inundating a nearby town.

"As of Wednesday 7 am (2300 GMT Tuesday), the death toll stands at 14 confirmed fatalities with 18 people sustaining injuries," reported Lee Kuan-ting, a press official from the Hualien County Government.

Lee informed AFP that rescue personnel were actively searching for 30 individuals reported missing in the affected region.

The National Fire Agency subsequently revised the number of missing persons to 124.

According to Hualien fire officials, floodwaters temporarily reached as high as second-floor levels in some residential structures on Tuesday, leaving approximately 263 people stranded.

These individuals were not facing immediate danger and were advised to remain in place until water levels subsided.

Video footage released by the fire agency depicted streets underwater and vehicles partially submerged, while trees were uprooted throughout the area.

Across Taiwan, Typhoon Ragasa forced the evacuation of more than 7,600 people.

Approximately 3,100 individuals were preemptively evacuated and relocated to stay with relatives in the vicinity of the creek in Hualien, according to information from the fire agency.

Taiwan routinely experiences tropical storms from July through October.

Typhoon Danas, which struck the island in early July, resulted in two fatalities and hundreds of injuries as the storm dropped more than 20 inches of rainfall across southern regions over one weekend.