HONG KONG, September 24, TASS. At least 14 people have been killed, with dozens more reported missing in Taiwan's Hualien County following the failure of a mud dam, the Focus Taiwan news portal reported, noting that a lake formed by earlier landslides overflowed its banks due to torrential rains brought by Typhoon Ragasa.
Reports indicate that the torrent of water swept through the township of Guangfu. While the floodwaters have receded, the streets remain buried under a thick layer of mud and debris. Rescue teams are conducting a door-to-door search for survivors, though the exact number of missing individuals is still unknown. Authorities have evacuated over three thousand people.
The floodwaters in Guangfu, located approximately 40 kilometers south of Hualien City, also inundated a railway station and destroyed a bridge on a local highway.
Super Typhoon Ragasa, packing hurricane-force winds exceeding 50 meters per second, struck the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions of China on September 24. The storm is now advancing towards the Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Hainan, as well as the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is forecasted that by September 26, the typhoon will move into the northern areas of Vietnam and Cambodia, with its effects also expected to be felt in China's southwestern Yunnan province.