The outer bands of Typhoon Ragasa dumped torrential rain on Taiwan’s Hualien county, and burst a barrier lake in the Matai’an river. The lake, formed by a landslide in July, had been under constant monitoring and authorities had expected it would overflow, but it exceeded expectations. More than 15.4m tonnes of water came down, blasting a tsunami of thick sludge into Guangfu.
Days later trains packed with volunteers arrived, in their tens of thousands, ready to help. Stephen Byrne spoke with Guardian foreign correspondent Helen Davidson in Taiwan, who witnessed the cleanup first-hand.
Gym bros, monks, retirees: thousands descend on Taiwan town to clean up after devastating flood ► https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/02/thousands-descend-taiwan-town-clean-up-after-devastating-flood–gym-bros-monks-retirees
Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube and hit the bell to see new videos ► http://bit.ly/gdnaustraliasubs
Get the latest news at theguardian.com ► https://www.theguardian.com/au?CMP=gdnaus_yt
Support Guardian Australia ► https://support.theguardian.com/contribute?CMP=gdnaus_yt
Sign up to Guardian Australia’s free daily newsletters, the Morning Mail and Afternoon Update ► https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=gdnaus_yt
Find or follow Guardian Australia:
Website ► https://theguardian.com/au?CMP=gdnaus_yt
Google News ► https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMNTrogswl_a6Aw
Instagram ► https://instagram.com/guardianaustralia
TikTok ► https://tiktok.com/@guardianaustralia
LinkedIn ► https://linkedin.com/company/guardianaustralia
Threads ► https://www.threads.net/@guardianaustralia
WhatsApp Channels ► https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaBW8Bn6hENlReOC9j0l
Facebook ► https://facebook.com/theguardianaustralia
Newsletters ► https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=gdnaus_yt
Subscribe to the Guardian’s other YouTube channels:
The Guardian ► https://bit.ly/guardiannewssubs
Guardian News ► https://bit.ly/guardiannewssubs
Guardian Football ► https://bit.ly/gdnfootballsubs
Guardian Sport ► https://bit.ly/gdnsportsubs
Guardian Live ► https://bit.ly/guardianlivesubs
#breakingnews #news #guardianaustralia #theguardian
