Taipei City Government

With typhoon season around the corner, the Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) is taking steps to prepare early!
 
In addition to carrying out preparatory works to minimize the possibility of mudslides occurring after short-burst torrential rainfalls – especially for mountainous areas with records in the past five years, the agency also invested much efforts in a campaign to heighten awareness of citizens residing in these regions with potential risks.
 
Since winter of last year, Taiwan has been experiencing lower-than-average rainfall. However, with the monsoon and typhoons expected after the month of April, the agency is taking steps to prepare the city against extreme conditions brought about by climate changes. Thanks to an early start, GEO has completed the muck removal from 50 listed silt detention basins across the city.
 
According the statistics in 2021 published by the Executive Yuan’s Council of Agriculture, there are a total of 1,726 rivers across the island with risk of mudslides. Among these, 50 are within Taipei’s parameters, with residents living along 10 of these bodies of water. The city government’s data showed that over 200 people from 95 households live along these areas. Due to the impact of COVID-19, GEO disseminated information on disaster prevention to these residents through phone calls, SMS, and mail.
 
Regarding the silt removal operations, GEO pointed out that 50 detention basins under surveillance are located in the middle-to-downstream regions of mudslide-prone rivers, near communities build on slopes, or in the vicinity of camping grounds. While cleaning is carried out every year, the agency conducted the routine work between March and April due to lessen rainfall this year.
 
All the monitored silt detention basins have been cleaned as of April 22, removing roughly 323.7 metric tons of muck and debris from these pools.