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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》Hualien remains on red alert as barrier lake holds
An aerial view shows a barrier lake in the upper reaches of the Wanli River in Hualien County yesterday. Photo courtesy of the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency
By Jonathan Chin / Staff writer, with CNA
A barrier lake in Hualien’s Wanli River （萬里溪） is expected to overflow, although it was holding up better than expected, the authorities said yesterday.
The Central Emergency Operations Center （CEOC） on Thursday afternoon declared a red alert in Fenglin （鳳林） and Wanrong （萬榮） townships, and evacuated residents, after waters in the barrier lake reached dangerous levels.
The barrier lake contained 5.11 million cubic meters of water as of 4pm yesterday.
It was expected to burst yesterday, but officials said the embankment was holding up better than expected.
The situation remained dangerous, as the lake’s waters have all but reached the elevation capacity limit of 1,086m and as of 4pm, it was still rising, Forestry and Natural Conservation Agency officials said.
Seepage from the barrier lake had also risen significantly compared with readings from the two previous days, suggesting increasing internal pressures, they said.
The central government and local authorities were advised to maintain a high level of readiness as the embankment could break at any time, the CEOC said.
The Hualien County Government, Highway Bureau, Taiwan Railway Corp and offices in the affected townships have completed the evacuation of residents and blocked off access to the area, it said.
Firefighters, police, the armed forces and other emergency response units have been deployed to assist in the operations, it added.
CEOC head and Minister Without Portfolio Chi Lien-cheng （季連成） said he ordered the Ministry of Agriculture to take aerial photos of the waters in the area and monitor the barrier lake’s integrity daily.
Traffic control measures could be lifted if safety conditions permitted, he said.
Train services were restored at 4:50pm.
Additional reporting by Wu Liang-yi
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
