Typhoon
Toraji did not cause great damage to the northern region of Formosa.
However, the local fellow initiates remained on high alert on the
day the typhoon struck. In the early morning of July 30, they received
calls from the Hsichih, Keelung Fire Department. The Chinese Amphibious
Rescue Society, formed by fellow initiates, immediately dispatched
a team of sixteen professionally trained rescuers, together with their
most up-to-date amphibious rescue vessel, to the Hsichih Fire Department
and the advance command post in Keelung’s Paifu district. However,
Typhoon Toraji did not take the predicted course. Instead, it struck
Hualien on the eastern coast, as well as central Formosa. The rescue
team members immediately proceeded to the central region to offer
their support, but were forced to remain on standby in Taoyuan because
traffic to the area had been cut off.
In the
central county of Chiayi, heavy rainfall led to a rapid rise in the
water level, and river banks were submerged under what appeared to
be a vast sea. Upon receiving news of the flooding, fellow practitioners
from the Chiayi Center promptly set up a rescue team and set off for
the most severely affected rural township, Chungpu. Fortunately, the
government had already deployed several hundred soldiers in the area
to help victims rebuild their homes. Fellow practitioners left their
contact phone number with the various village offices, just in case
the affected households needed material or spiritual support.
Remark:
Due to the fact that the relief work is still in progress, expenditures
and receipts will be published in a future issue of the News.
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