Reported by sister initiate
Liu Yu-hui, Keelung, Formosa

The 90-degree swerve of the mudslide near brother Lu's home.

After taking an unusual route and hovering over the Pacific Ocean for several days, typhoon Nari, heavily loaded with rain and timing its arrival with the monthly rise of the tides, unleashed its fury on Formosa on September 17, 2001. Seeming as though it were collaborating with the sea god Neptune, the storm played out a tragic flood drama accompanied by a symphony of wind and rain.

Power and water supplies were cut off for many days. News came that the water level had risen to unprecedented levels in Hsichih, Tingnei, Chitu and other areas of northern Formosa. Even areas where anti-flood precautions were usually unnecessary, such as downtown Keelung and the eastern districts of Taipei, were flooded. In addition to the heavy flooding in the north, central Formosa was affected as well. Mudslides occurred, houses collapsed, vehicles were submerged under water, people were washed away, and great loss of property was incurred. The situation was truly distressful.

After the typhoon moved on, among the many painful complaints by residents, I heard a story about a sister initiate who lives in a low-lying area. She was doing her midnight meditation when she suddenly awoke and opened her door to find that the rising water was only a few inches from her home. She quickly awakened her family and evacuated them to a higher place, and within minutes, water had submerged their home, which had never been flooded in the thirty odd years they had lived there. When I visited her, the house was a complete mess, being filled with mud, and the furniture was soaked. The sister initiate cleaned the house in a depressed mood. But on the other hand, she felt deep gratitude that her whole family was safe. She told me with a resolute smile that she would attend group meditation that evening.

The mudslide toward brother Lu's house changes direction due to the intervention of a makeshift house.

Wearing my rain boots, I continued my journey on motorbike to the most serious disaster area--Tingnei. In the lowlands of this area, all one story houses were submerged by water when typhoon Xangsane struck Formosa last year. This year, typhoon Nari pushed the water level above the second story of many houses.

I had to travel on a muddy mountain road to get to brother Lu's home. The road was flanked by huge heaps of waist-high mud, and water was still rushing down between them. The two-way road had become a small stream. All the basements of the apartment complexes and buildings in the area were submerged. (This was on the third day after the disaster.) As people were busy cleaning their homes, excavators and soldiers joined in the restoration work. Trucks came back and forth to carry away the mud.

Driving upward, I arrived at brother Lu's home. To its right front was a multistory apartment complex--Lucky Plaza--that had been severely damaged by landslides caused indirectly by over-development.

There used to be two beautiful, lofty mountain crests facing brother Lu's home. Several months ago, the landlord erected a sheet metal fence in front of them, and the neighboring grocery store built a makeshift sheet metal house about the size of a 20-foot container nearby. Brother Lu thought that the neighbor had perhaps wanted to use it as a garage or warehouse, but then, the house was left unused for months.

When typhoon Nari brought torrential downpours during the night, a rapid flow of muddy water carrying rocks and other debris rushed toward brother Lu's home at tremendous speed. Then, suddenly a miracle occurred! The fence and makeshift house sent the mudslide on a 90-degree swerve, and the water, mud, sand, and everything else slid safely past his home. It was truly amazing!

"Master had already arranged all this!" said brother Lu with full gratitude.

I took some pictures of a few rocks at the door, the twisted and damaged asphalt-paved road, and the makeshift house, in front of which were rocks of different sizes. I also recorded the traces of the 90-degree-swerve made by the mudslide as evidence of the miracle.

Inside brother Lu's home was a miraculous scene showing that nothing had happened! Master, in a full green dress, was smiling in a large picture in the sitting room. She seemed to be Mother Nature, saying, "Nature changes, just as our lives are ephemeral. Only those who practice the Quan Yin Method are under the best protection." Thinking of the scenes on my way here, and imagining how horrifying it must have been on the night of the disaster, I felt a great sense of shock in my heart!

In this house, which Master visited three times, I felt "safety" under Her care.