The Central Emergency Operation Center’s latest data shows that Typhoon
Ragasa has left 18 dead, 7 missing, and 107 injured, mainly in the Hualian
area.

One new fatality was added this morning after a body was found near the
Hualien River in Guangfu Township.

Search efforts in Hualien today are focused on lanes 36 and 46 of Fo-zu
Street as they were davastated by the Matai’an River landslide.

The National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction reported
that foot traffic monitoring in Guangfu Township peaked yesterday at 51,200
people, but dropped to 23,300 today.

Due to the large number of volunteers arriving in Guangfu Township to assist
in disaster recovery, Agriculture Ministry has decided to provide daily
lunchboxes for the volunteers from now until the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Regarding the restoration of the Matai’an River Bridge, the short-term goal
is to build a culvert bypass for traffic, scheduled for completion by October
15.



For the long term, engineers are also planning to install a temporary steel
bridge for safety, scheduled for completion by the end of January next year.



(JL)