After days of heavy rain, landslides and mudflows on the South Cross-Island Highway caused multiple road closures. Forty people — including hikers evacuated from the mountains, officers from the Xiangyang Police Station of the Guanshan Precinct, and staff from the Forestry Bureau’s Xiangyang Work Station — were stranded in the mountains facing a food shortage. On the afternoon of the 12th, officers from the Lirui Police Station carried three days’ worth of supplies up the mountain, slightly easing the crisis.
Guanshan Precinct Deputy Chief Zeng Huizong said that 22 hikers who had climbed Lake Jiaming two days ago became stranded at the Xiangyang Police Station after descending from the mountains. Together with the police officers and Forestry Bureau staff, they totaled 40 people who had nearly exhausted their food supplies. Without a resupply, they would have run out of food by noon today.
Yesterday, the Haiduan Township Office transported three days’ worth of supplies to the Lirui Police Station. The station chief and officers then carried the supplies on foot for about 20 kilometers, successfully delivering them to Xiangyang yesterday afternoon and resolving the food shortage.
The resupply included rice, instant noodles, pasta, canned goods, toilet paper, and more. If the weather clears in the next couple of days, the hikers in the mountains will be escorted down in groups.
Wang Qingxiong, deputy section chief of the Guanshan Maintenance Section under the Highway Bureau, pointed out that landslides caused by heavy rain had blocked the road at the 158 km (Lisong section) and near the 173 km mark close to the Lirui tribe on the South Cross-Island Highway. Repair work could not proceed yesterday due to ongoing rainfall.
He emphasized that once the rain subsides today, crews will immediately clear debris from the road surface, and engineering personnel will work to reopen the road as soon as possible.
In addition, as the first rice harvest in the Taitung Valley is approaching, continuous heavy rain has also caused lodging damage across nearly 30 hectares of rice fields. Farmers are concerned that if the rain persists, it could lead to a repeat of last year’s disaster where rice panicles sprouted prematurely during the second harvest season. Therefore, they continue to pray for no more rain.