Taipei (September 24, 2025)— Typhoon Ragasa battered Taiwan, unleashing massive floods after the landslide lake at the Mata’an River in Hualien overflowed, causing widespread destruction in Guangfu Township.
At the Central Disaster Response Center’s 11th coordination meeting this afternoon, Interior Minister and Commander Liu Shifang reported the latest casualty figures. As of 4 p.m., authorities confirmed 17 deaths, 17 people missing, and 32 injured nationwide, with the majority of fatalities and missing persons concentrated in Guangfu.
Officials also clarified the drastic adjustment in the missing persons count, which had initially exceeded 100. The Hualien Fire Department had tallied multiple reports for the same missing individuals, resulting in duplicate records. Once many of those individuals were found or contacted, the number was corrected to reflect the actual total.
Infrastructure and Utility Damage
The typhoon triggered 635 separate incidents, including blocked roads, collapsed bridges, fallen trees, and landslides. Power and communication networks were also affected:
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15,315 households lost electricity; 95 still await restoration.
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4,378 households experienced water outages.
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1,342 households faced disruptions in landline services; 150 remain unrepaired.
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36 mobile phone base stations were damaged, with 20 still offline.
In total, 8,395 residents were evacuated, and 17 shelters have been opened to house 1,027 evacuees.
Flooding at Mata’an River
Meteorological data showed that Wanrong Township, Hualien, recorded 700–800 millimeters of rainfall between September 22 and 25 as the storm and its outer circulation passed through.
Water level gauges at the Mata’an landslide lake indicated a sharp drop of 33 meters between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. on the 23rd, signaling massive overflow. The first flood surge destroyed the Mata’an River Bridge, while a second surge an hour later intensified flooding downstream. Officials estimated that 60 million tons of water surged out of the lake, carving an 80-meter-wide outlet channel and reducing the dam’s elevation to 1,060 meters. The water storage area was measured at 50 hectares with a capacity of 23 million tons.
Relief and Rescue Efforts
The Hualien County Fire Department mobilized 67 vehicles, 20 ambulances, and 180 personnel for search and rescue. Reinforcements also came from Taipei, Taitung, Pingtung, Yilan, and Taichung, along with the National Fire Agency’s special rescue teams.
Meanwhile, the military placed 27,867 soldiers and 3,853 vehicles on standby. Four combat zones dispatched 340 troops and 37 vehicles specifically for recovery efforts in Guangfu Township.
Authorities emphasized that rescue and relief operations are ongoing, with teams working around the clock to restore utilities, clear debris, and assist displaced residents.
