“Without warning,” let’s say the residents of Taiwan after a mountain lake of Typhoon explode

When the flood rushed down from the mountain, Ava and her husband tried to get to their car – but it was too late.

“It was like a river outside and the cars sailed. It all started moving,” said the 42-year-old owner of a bookstore. The couple sought asylum on the second floor of their store in Guangfu, trying to save as many books as possible.

“I’m still in shock. I just can’t imagine how this could happen,” she said.

Like many Taiwanese, AWA breaks down by the unexpected deadly destruction caused by Super Typhoon Ragasa, although the island was not directly on The strongest storm the world saw this yearS

Violation of Barrier Lake – formed after landslides, triggered by another typhoon, blocked rivers in a remote mountain valley in July – is the main cause of major damage in the Eastern District of Hualien, said Huang Chao Chin, the Deputy Commander of the Central Emergency Center in Taiwan.

The people who were on the path of the deadly wall of water, which dropped along the mountain end, endured a little chance as they were washed a bridge, uprooted trees and submerged vehicles.

Many of the dead were adults trapped in water, entering their homes.

Matai’an Creek barrier lake is about 11 km (7 miles) from the communities down the chain.

He was holding about 91 million tonnes of water, enough to fill an Olympic Olympic Olympic pools. About three quarters of this water was suddenly released after the lake burst its shores on Tuesday, killing at least 14 people and wounds 32 others. Forty -six people are still not responsible.

Emergency services said the water was deep in Guangfu, the worst hit in the city. In some places it rose as high as on the second floor of a house and it was about one floor in the city center.

The power of the water unleashed by the lake can be compared to a tsunami, said Chen Ven Shan, a professor of geology of Emerit at the National University of Taiwan.

“Kinetic energy can even be greater than tsunami. The flow rate can exceed 100 km/h (62mph) per hour,” he told the BBC. “Although energy decreases after reaching the plains, it still remains powerful and fast – far beyond what can handle the typical river embankment.”

The survivors in Guangfu said they had not received a warning from the authorities just before a disaster was reached.

But Prof. Chen said the academic community sounded the alarm bell before Universities closely followed the water level of the barrier lake And he works with the authorities on emergency plans.

“As a typhoon approaches, we can judge the rainfall. We knew that this time the water could overflow the lake. Part of the dam also collapsed, causing a large volume of water. But even that volume was in our estimates,” he said.

“The failure to evacuate the residents correctly is one of the factors that made the disaster so severe.”

On Monday, September 22, the day before Ragasa approaches the island, Hualien authorities issued warnings, evacuated about 7,000 people and set up three evacuation centers. Meanwhile, the central government has repeatedly urged the district administration to accelerate evacuations.

But the evacuation was “optional” and local employees only called on the public to go to a higher place, Hualien counselor Jan Hua-May told the BBC.

It was a little before 15:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Tuesday when the barrier lake overflowed. Officials expected the floods to be needed for two hours to reach the inhabited areas down the stream and only people living near the river would be affected.

But within an hour, huge amounts of water were poured into the city of Guangfu, where 12,000 people live.

“There were no special flood warnings and there was no broadcast,” Guangfu High School Administrator told the BBC, provided for anonymity. The school was defined at the evacuation center, so it was initially charged to help the evacuators.

He said he had just finished lunch around 3:00 pm when he heard that the lake had cracked his shores.

“Within 10 minutes, the water spread into the campus from the street. The playground of 400 square meters Milli was submerged,” he said. Chairs, tables, refrigerators and even cars soon sailed.

“If I was still on the street, I wouldn’t be able to reach higher. There were many items floating in the water. I could be hit or even on electricity.”

The administrator stated that the employees may have underestimated the effects of Ragasa – the lake did not break its shores when last month it struck in a greater typhoon.

Since last week, Mayor of the County Hsu Chen-Uw has been on an excursion to South Korea to promote tourism. She returned to Hualien on Monday night – according to reports after a call from the Interior Minister.

Those like AWA and her husband at the bookstore and the school administrator managed to get to safety on time.

But many of the victims of the Flood were adults. Most bodies are found on the ground floor of houses, according to local media.

“Residents of elderly elderly people usually receive door -to -door communication. It is not clear how local authorities have informed them and managed the situation,” AWA said. Hualien’s population is aging and many of its older residents do not use smartphones.

“Many elderly residents are also in bed due to chronic illnesses and no one can help them,” said G -Jan Yang.

But Prof. Chen said there were no quick solutions. Small explosive operations can be performed for the barrier lakes, composed of the base, he said. But in this case, the lake is formed by more free land and rocks.

“In addition, there are no roads leading to the mountains, so heavy machines cannot be located.”

Taiwan has a lot of experience from barrier lakes – 88 have been formed on the island since the 70s of the last century, according to Taiwan’s public television service. Of these 57%, they are formed after typhoons; 23% of earthquakes. Most disappear within one year, although four have been there for decades.

But Taiwan’s public has a little understanding of barrier lakes, former Interior Minister Lee Hong Yuan, a trained civil engineer, told local media. He said many researchers witnessed the burst of a barrier lake for the first time.

Hualien, which is nearly 90% mountainous, is also not unknown to natural disasters. The county is often the first place of Taiwan to face typhoons, and its location of the quiet fire ring means that it is predisposed to earthquakes.

The disaster in the last two years, including an earthquake of fatal magnitude 7.1 in 2024, devastated the tourism industry of the district, said G -Jan Yang. Many picturesque spots and routes at the world -renowned Taroko Depile National Park are still closed after the earthquake.

The county also has the largest population of the indigenous population in Taiwan, with AWA’s husband being one of them. The couple started the bookstore four years ago with the mission to preserve the history of the indigenous population – and it moved to its present place just a few months ago.

Now the bookstore is soaked in mud and they take stock of damage.

“I’m really sad because some of the books have already exhausted print,” she said.

But at least she and her husband are safe.

Others in the city have to deal with the loss of loved ones or worry about relatives and friends who are injured or those who are still missing.

A tearful Mrs. Shich, whose 87-year-old mother was killed, told local media that her body was covered with debris inside their home.

“We hope that the government and the police will get in touch soon and help to restore my mother’s body so that she can be laid to rest.”

Additional reporting from Locke Lee from BBC News Chinese in Taipei