Typhoon Morakot

Last night TVBJ (SCV Channel 48) suspended all scheduled broadcast to telecast live the HK Artistes 88 Fund Raising Campaign for Taiwan victims of Typhoon Morakot which struck the island on 8 Aug 09, falling one year’s worth of rainfall in just three days.

During the four-hour telecast, many past and present actors and singers, including some from Taiwan who flew to HK, performed to raise more than HKD50,000,000 for the victims. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Gary Chao Ge sang an English song, The Greatest Love of All.

In between songs and commercials, I switched over to TVBS-News (SCV Channel 49) to get an update of the situation in Taiwan.

Here are some of the things I learned.

The six badly affected areas are Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Hualien, Taichung, Tainan and Taitung. Apparently the worst in 50 years.

Buildings don’t just collapse when there is an earthquake. They also collapse when there are severe mudslides and floodwaters. A hotel in Taitung County, the Jinshuai Hotel collapsed into the Jhihben River after its foundations were eroded by surging floodwaters. Fortunately all staff and guests were evacuated a day earlier.



70% of the students in an elementary school were either dead or missing.

Thousands of pigs drowned; possible outbreak of disease.

Water supply had been cut off to an estimated 280,000 people. A youth, queuing for water, said he had not bath for the past seven days nor did he dare flushed the toilet.

Because of political sensitivity, US cargo planes cannot be stationed in the affected area. They have to return to an offshore base several hours of flight away. (You go figure this one out.)

Some Taiwanese rescue planes were not utilised as official documentation for the authorisation were either not done or received. (Again, you go figure this one out too.)

In an online CNN poll, 82% of people think that President Ma Ying-jeou should resign because of a nearly week’s delay in assisting the victims. The poll had stopped when it hit 82%, after rapid increase.

Some of the victims were given instant rice or noodle that does not require hot water to cook. Just add about 150 ml of (cold) water into the mix, cover for 50 minutes, and you have instant rice with vegetables. And there are at least six varities to choose from. Perhaps one of the better innovations that is useful and practical in times like these.

So far 126 confirmed dead and more than 24,000 people have been evacuated.