New flood fears spook evacuees after Ragasa kills 14 in Taiwan

Residents in an eastern Taiwan town where flooding from a strong typhoon killed 14 people took to shelters on Wednesday fearing further disaster, as Premier Cho Jung-tai called for an inquiry into what went wrong with evacuation orders.

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Subtropical Taiwan, frequently hit by typhoons, normally has a well-oiled disaster mechanism that averts mass casualties by moving people out of potential danger zones quickly.

But many residents in Guangfu, an inundated town in the beauty spot of Hualien thronged by tourists, said there was insufficient warning when the lake overflowed during Tuesday’s torrential rains brought by Super Typhoon Ragasa.

Mr. Cho said the immediate priority was to find the 129 still missing, but questions remained.

“For the 14 who have tragically passed away, we must investigate why evacuation orders were not carried out in the designated areas,” he told reporters in Guangfu.

“This is not about assigning blame but about uncovering the truth.”

The barrier lake, formed by landslides triggered by earlier heavy rain in the island’s sparsely populated east, burst its banks to send a wall of water into Guangfu.