By Li-Wei Sung | Project Leader
This year, the Taiwan Red Cross (TRC) volunteers and staffs spent the Mid-Autumn Festival with their colleagues. Typhoon Meranti and typhoon Malakas took a swipe at Taiwan one by one during the four-day holidays. All four of the TRC Disaster Rescue Teams and the TRC Disaster Preparedness Centers, Chapters and Branches across Taiwan were already on standby before the typhoon made its landfall.
Starting from Sept. 13th, the TRC Headquarters staffs have been taking turns to be stationed in the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) on a 24-hour basis, delivering first-hand information released from the government agencies back to the Headquarters. Meanwhile, the staffs from the TRC New Kaohsiung Chapter were also stationed in the Kaohsiung City Emergency Operation Center.
In order to prepare for the typhoons, the TRC Taitung Branch ordered tarpaulins for the households affected by typhoon Nepartak in July. TRC volunteers and staffs helped local residents to cover the rooftop with tarpaulins, clean-up the environment, and make sure the drainage systems can function properly. Items in the TRC Disaster Preparedness Centers were inventoried and made readily available to be delivered to the needy people at any time.
The TRC received a request for assistance from the Kaohsiung City Bureau of Social Affairs on the evening of Sept. 14th. A mobile dialysis unit was stuck in a ditch in the Gangshan District, and a power outage also hit the community. The TRC immediately dispatched the Third Disaster Rescue Team to assist the vehicle and delivered 20 sets of flashlight and candle to the homes without power.
Meranti and Malakas brought heavy rain across the nation over the past few days. Taitung County Bureau of Social Affairs reported severe damage in Yanping Township on Sept. 15th. Shelter centers were opened to the affected people. The TRC soon sent out its volunteers to deliver 100 sets of sleeping bag and sleeping mat and assist those sheltered in the Tao-Yuan Elementary School.
Shelter centers sent another request for emergency supplies on Sept. 16th at 2:00 PM. Food parcels (include instant noodles, canned food, dry food, seasoning packets and milk powder), 30 boxes of drinking water, 200 pairs of work gloves, 60 sets of daily necessities and 20 sets of first aid kits were delivered to the shelter center located in Wuling Village at 7:00 PM.
Typhoon Meranti brought a tremendous amount of rain to Taitung County, and Dahdah tribe was hit by 3 mudslide disasters consecutively. 27 households were evacuated to the nearby shelter centers. The TRC immediately launched a monetary support program to assist the population impacted by the mudslides, and TWD 10,000 was delivered to each affected household on Sept. 17th.
Besides emergency supplies and monetary supports, the TRC also lent 6 chainsaws to Kaohsiung City and airlifted 2 chainsaws along with 6 sets of chain to Kinmen County to assist the local governments in disaster relief operations.
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List of emergency supplies delivered to shelters in Taitung County:
Links:
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