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OO RUEHAST RUEHCN RUEHDH RUEHGH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
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DE RUEHIN #1005/01 2302353
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 182353Z AUG 09
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2143
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 4680
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 0161
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RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHHJJAA/JICPAC HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
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RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 001005 
 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE ALSO FOR S/ES-O/CMS, EAP/TC AND CA/OCS, BANGKOK FOR 
USAID/OFDA REGIONAL ADVISOR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON AEMR CASC PGOV SENV XE TW
SUBJECT: MORAKOT SITREP 6: HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY PASSES, 
TAIWAN MOVES TO NEXT PHASE OF RESPONSE 
 
REF: A. TAIPEI 996 (SITREP NO. 5) 
     ¶B. TAIPEI 992 (SITREP NO. 4) 
     ¶C. TAIPEI 979 
     ¶D. TAIPEI 974 (SITREP NO. 3) 
     ¶E. TAIPEI 967 
     ¶F. TAIPEI 966 (SITREP NO. 2) 
     ¶G. TAIPEI 958 (SITREP NO. 1) 
     ¶H. STATE 83578 
 
 ¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY.  The death toll from Typhoon Morakot has 
hit 127, with an additional 522 deaths likely to be confirmed 
in the coming weeks.  Taiwan is moving into a second phase of 
disaster response, with operations focusing on sheltering and 
relocating victims.  USAID/OFDA Acting Regional Advisor Ron 
Libby assesses that the humanitarian and emergency situations 
have stabilized, and the major task facing relief workers is 
opening roads into still-inaccessible areas.  Taiwan has 
adequate equipment to speed up the pace of current road 
excavation work, but still lacks sufficient heavy-lift 
capacity to bring this equipment into inaccessible areas. 
Taiwan does not appear to have given thought to relocating or 
responding to the challenge posed by at least 10,000 
residents who refuse to leave affected areas that may once 
again be hit by severe weather as typhoon season continues. 
Although the heaviest rains to hit Taiwan in 50 years are 
long gone, political fallout for the KMT continues, already 
claiming Vice Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------- 
Human and Economic Toll 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  The death toll from Typhoon Morakot has reached 
¶127.  307 individuals are now reported missing and 45 
injuries are attributed to the typhoon.  The Kaohsiung 
Emergency Response Center is still seeking confirmation of 
the deaths of a reported 491 individuals in Xiaolin village 
and a further 31 individuals reportedly buried in Xinkai 
village.  5,520 individuals are currently housed in 53 
shelters, awaiting resettlement.  21,600 households remain 
without stable access to clean water.  12,558 households are 
without power, and an additional 2,666 do not have 
telecommunications service. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  All five national highways have been repaired.  46 
out of 131 damaged provincial highways and 37 out of 65 
damaged country roads still require repairs.  An estimated 
100 factories in the Kaohsiung area have been forced to stop 
operations every other day due to clean water shortages 
following the typhoon.  Local utility companies are working 
to resolve this issue.  The Executive Yuan is today convening 
a meeting to pass a special budget for typhoon 
reconstruction, with Ministry of Finance officials reporting 
that at least USD3.3 billion will be required for rebuilding. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  AIT/K reports that in Kaohsiung County there are 
over 1,000 villagers who are refusing to leave their affected 
hometowns because the weather has improved and because 3-4 
Taiwan soldiers have been deployed to each village to provide 
assistance with aid distribution and communication links with 
the outside.  U.S. helicopters on August 18 began bringing 
excavation equipment to six locations in Liu-Guei and 
Lao-Nung villages.  The excavators will be used to open roads 
into these inaccessible areas.  In Taitung County, 
agricultural damages are estimated at over USD30 million, 285 
households are still without access to clean water, and 73 
households are without power.  Chiayi County Deputy 
Magistrate Wu Rong-hui expressed disappointment that U.S. 
helicopters would not be bringing excavation equipment to 
affected towns in Chiayi today, and noted that agricultural 
losses in his county are estimated at roughly USD53 million. 
In Tainan County, clean-up and sanitation work continues, 
with agricultural losses mounting to USD62 million. 
 
-------------- 
 
TAIPEI 00001005  002 OF 003 
 
 
Relief Measures 
-------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  The Executive Yuan has decided that on August 19 
the Disaster Reduction Committee (DRC) will take over the 
second phase of disaster relief from the Central Emergency 
Operations Center.  Minister of State Tsai Hsung-Hsiung will 
head the DRC.  This move signals that the authorities are 
re-focusing relief work on sheltering and relocating victims. 
 The Ministry of Interior has asked the Disaster Relief 
Foundation to provide subsidies to victims whose homes were 
destroyed by the typhoon.  Victims can choose from three 
subsidy programs: one for renters, one for home buyers, and a 
third for government resettlement. 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to 
donate another 100 million Yen (USD1.1 million) to typhoon 
relief efforts after making a 10 million Yen donation last 
week.  Deputy Secretary-General Ma Xiao Guang of the PRC's 
Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) 
will reportedly fly to Taiwan today to personally hand out 
relief materials, such as blankets and sleeping bags, to 
typhoon victims.  Also arriving from the PRC today are 
pre-fabricated houses for typhoon victims.  News of this 
particular donation has prompted some to demand the 
authorities investigate whether these houses contain 
unhealthy levels of toxic chemicals like asbestos before 
allowing typhoon victims to move in. 
 
-------------------- 
USAID/OFDA Assessment 
-------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU)  AIT debriefed USAID/OFDA Acting Regional Advisor 
Ron Libby today after his return from visiting affected areas 
in southern Taiwan.  Libby noted that the humanitarian 
emergency appears to have passed, and Taiwan appears to have 
sufficient stockpiles of food and water to meet basic 
humanitarian needs for the time being.  He added that there 
doesn't appear to be any need for medical support beyond that 
already on hand.  The most glaring need he identified was 
Taiwan's requirement to transport heavy equipment into areas 
inaccessible by ground transportation.  At Tainan Airfield, 
Libby observed that Taiwan has placed earth-moving and 
excavating equipment of multiple sizes and capacities at the 
ready for transport into areas cut-off by mudslides and 
washed-out bridges.  Current lift-capacity available to 
Taiwan from both domestic helicopters and on-site DoD 
helicopters in support of relief missions are unable to carry 
the larger equipment into the disaster zones.  Libby assesses 
that use of the larger equipment would allow road clearing to 
occur at five times the speed of current road clearing 
operations.  Currently, only smaller-sized excavating 
equipment can be lifted into inaccessible areas.  Libby notes 
that if roads can be cleared faster this would allow for a 
faster and more effective tempo of relief operations. 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Other relief issues to consider are more effective 
ways to deliver potable water to cut-off areas.  Currently, 
bottled water is being brought in by helicopter, which takes 
away from the ability of the helicopters to fly in foodstuffs 
or undertake other missions.  Installing rain catchment 
devices on rooftops would be a better solution, in Libby's 
assessment, but the issue has not been explored adequately by 
officials on the ground.  (Note. USAID Regional Director Al 
Dwyer who will be arriving tomorrow has water sanitation 
expertise.)  Libby states that diseases like cholera are 
unlikely to become a problem, though there is some concern 
about dengue fever.  However, the Australians are bringing in 
vector control solutions to address this problem. 
 
¶9. (SBU)  Libby adds that there are at least 10,000 
individuals who have chose to stay in affected areas. 
Morakot was only the second typhoon to hit Taiwan in 2009. 
The Pacific typhoon season will likely see an additional 15 
 
TAIPEI 00001005  003 OF 003 
 
 
typhoons form, some of which may hit Taiwan.  Libby notes 
that it is unclear that the Taiwan authorities have thought 
far enough ahead to make plans to adequately evacuate or 
shelter these individuals if severe weather again threatens 
their safety.  Libby adds that lack of Taiwan inter-agency 
cooperation has hampered communication and coordination in 
local areas. 
 
¶10. (SBU)  ADIR comment on U.S. assistance: As a result of 
this briefing, the two courses of action now being pursued 
are: 1) to determine whether DoD has other heavy-lift 
helicopters in the region that can be brought in to transport 
the heavier earth moving equipment no on the ground in 
southern Taiwan.  This would have a significant impact on 
relief operations.  2) to recommend to Taiwan rescue and 
relief officials that they develop a contingency plan to 
begin evacuation of the more than 10,000 villagers who remain 
in the isolated villages throughout the area.  USAID Regional 
Director Dwyer is likely to deliver this message when he 
meets with relevant Taiwan officials in the next few days. 
WANG