Report
1. A report on “Review of Floods Caused by Typhoon Haitang” was made by the Water Resources Bureau. (please refer to written sources for details)
Resolution: Approved for reference filing
Mayor’s remarks:
(1) I am grateful to Secretary-general Lee, Director-general Peng, and Deputy Director-general Huang and colleagues for their efforts and endeavors in flood control. Flood control is not just the responsibility of the Water Resources Bureau. It also requires the Public Works Bureau, Urban Development Bureau, Land Administration Bureau, Transportation Bureau, and related bureaus and departments to cooperate. Allow me to express my gratitude to you all on behalf of citizens.
(2) When the typhoon season begins, the city government needs to do three things. Firstly, continuous flood control projects should be involved. After the county-city merger, Tainan became the city with the largest flood-prone area and the most extensive low-lying areas in the country. According to estimates made by the Water Resources Agency (WRA), it requires up to NT$60 billion to NT$70 billion in total funds to meet the 25-year protection standard. Before I became mayor, the total amount of funds spent on the planning, design, and contracted projects for Tainan City given by the central government was about NT$10 billion, which has made Tainan the city with the largest public investments in flood control in Taiwan. The project has run for 10 years now, and has only covered one quarter of the master flood control project. It should take at least another 30 years to complete the rest of the three quarters of the master project even though funding is no issue. I am grateful to the director-general of the Water Resources Bureau at that time, namely, Secretary-general Lee, who led the colleagues of the bureau to implement the emergency project built on the foundation of the flood control project made by the central government. In addition, they took advantage of the local topography and local features to turn paddy fields into detention ponds and the expressway as a secondary dyke to meet the systematic 10-year protection standard. In the future, we will continue to cooperate with the central government and secure more budgets from the central government to meet the 25-year protection standard and provide citizens with a safer environment to live in and work in peace. The Water Resources Bureau will be invited to develop the plans and complete the unfinished projects and future projects set upon the schedule one by one. Secondly, when the typhoon season begins, the city government needs to get prepared for work in the rainy season. I am grateful to the Environmental Protection Bureau for cleaning up to 2,000-3,000 km of side-gutters every year under the supervision of the Civil Service Ethics Office, and the Public Works Bureau for its assistance with the construction and restoration of the side-gutters, and the Water Resources Bureau for its assistance with inspecting hundreds of surface water sewers every year. The surface water can now flow into the side-gutters in the communities and pass through the storm sewers to the rivers without hindrance. Even though short, intense downpours may still overflow the side-gutters and overload the surface water sewers, when it rains slowly, floods can go away faster. Thirdly, when the typhoon season begins, the city government needs to decide on typhoon holidays. The government’s top priority is to protect the life, property, and safety of citizens. If there is no security concern whether to go to work or school, citizens should go to work and school as usual. This is how we decide to approve a typhoon holiday at the Emergency Response Center. However, it is unfair for the society to judge the effectiveness of flood control based on the results of announcing a typhoon break or not. Over the past few years, the central government and local governments have been working hard to implement flood control projects and won public recognition from the citizens. Therefore, do not deny our efforts simply based on information bias. Our efforts and effectiveness in flood control can stand the test of time and we welcome all quarters of society to examine the results. Whether it floods or not depends on the flood protection standards and precipitation volumes. If the precipitation volume exceeds the protection standard, any city would be flooded. Currently, our protection standard is 250 mm within 24 hours, whereas the precipitation of typhoon Haitang was 300 mm in 12 hours. Based on the flooded condition of the city, our 250 mm in 24 hours protection standard was exceeded. There are places where the precipitation exceeded 250 mm but that were not flooded. This typhoon caused flooding because part of the area’s precipitation exceeded 300 mm in 12 hours. However, whether flood control will be effective or not depends on objective indicators such as the area of flooding, flood retreat speed, and the number of floods. I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all colleagues and the central government for their cooperation, support from the citizens, and support from the city council in terms of budget. We will not have a compromised plan for our flood control simply because of the misunderstanding and criticism of a minority of city councilors. Instead, we will keep working on the flood control projects to protect the life, property, and safety of our citizens.