VZCZCXRO6833
OO RUEHAST RUEHCN RUEHDH RUEHGH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
RUEHSL RUEHTM RUEHTRO RUEHVC
DE RUEHIN #1013/01 2320804
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 200804Z AUG 09
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2159
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 4687
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 0166
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHJJAA/JICPAC HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001013 
 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE ALSO FOR S/ES-O/CMS, EAP/TC, CA/OCS, BANGKOK FOR 
USAID/OFDA REGIONAL ADVISOR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON AEMR CASC PREL PGOV SENV XE TW
SUBJECT: MORAKOT SITREP 8: TAIWAN SHIFTING FOCUS TO 
RECONSTRUCTION 
 
REF: TAIPEI 1011 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY.  The typhoon death toll stands at 141, 
with 440 individuals listed as missing.  Services such as 
water, communications, and electricity have been restored to 
nearly 100 percent of affected households.  The Central 
Emergency Operations Center is standing down, and will be 
replaced by the Post-Disaster Reconstruction Commission. 
USAID/OFDA Principal Regional Advisor Al Dwyer met with 
official on August 24 in Taipei and then traveled to affected 
areas in the south to assess and evaluate reconstruction 
efforts.  Donations and aid have now come in from over 71 
nations as Taiwan looks to fund a USD 3 billion 
reconstruction budget.  END SUMMARY. 
 
-------------------- 
Situation Stabilizing 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  According to the Central Emergency Operations 
Center, typhoon-related deaths currently number 141, and 440 
individuals are still reported missing.  There are 50 
shelters housing 5,957 displaced persons.  Communications 
have been 98 percent restored, electric power has been 99 
percent restored, water supply has been 98 percent restored, 
and water resource facilities (flood control dikes) have been 
66 percent restored.  60 out of 149 damaged provincial still 
need repair, as do 36 out of 65 damaged county roads, and 
seven out of 17 damaged township roads. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  USAID/OFDA Principal Regional Advisor Al Dwyer met 
on August 20 in Taipei with representatives from the Taiwan 
Government Information Office, National Fire Agency (tasked 
with disaster rescue), Ministry of National Defense, Centers 
for Disease Control, Council of Agriculture, Ministry of 
Transportation and Communications, and Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs to discuss Typhoon Morakot rescue and relief 
operations.  Taiwan representatives told Dwyer and AIT 
officials that Taiwan's Central Emergency Operations Center, 
which has been overseeing the response to Morakot, will stand 
down on August 21, and will be replaced by the Post-Disaster 
Reconstruction Commission (PDRC).  Premier Liu Chao-shiuan 
serves as the PDRC Chairman, and we understand that a PDRC 
office will open in Kaohsiung on August 24.  After meeting 
PDRC and AIT officials, Dwyer went to the south to continue 
assessing relief efforts.  He is scheduled to depart Taiwan 
on August 25. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  PDRC officials tell us that Taiwan is moving into 
the reconstruction phase of post-disaster work.  Rescue and 
relief efforts to date have involved 263,270 military 
personnel and 2,497 helicopter sorties.  There are still 27 
villages in affected areas that do not have road access to 
the outside, containing about 10,000 individuals who do not 
wish to evacuate.  AIT has learned that PDRC officials are 
evaluating the safety of these individuals and the cost of 
relocating them as part of planning for possible evacuations 
in the face of future weather-related disasters.  The 
authorities have dispatched over 500 academics, engineers, 
and NGO workers to the disaster zone over the past few days 
to survey and assess damage.  Their findings will be used to 
draw up guidelines and standards for reconstruction. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  In order to raise funds necessary for the proposed 
USD 3 billion special reconstruction budget, the Ministry of 
Finance (MOF) plans to sell 40 percent of the state-owned 
Land Bank.  MOF hopes to raise NTD 40 billion (roughly USD 
1.2 billion) by pricing shares at NTD 40 in the initial 
public offering. 
 
---------------------------- 
Over 71 Nations Providing Aid 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  71 nations and the European Union, as well as 19 
 
TAIPEI 00001013  002 OF 002 
 
 
international NGOs, have provided aid and donations to 
typhoon-relief efforts. China's Taiwan Affairs Office reports 
that China has provided a total of USD 25.8 million in 
monetary donations and material donations worth USD 3.7 
million.  Separately, AIT's Community Outreach Group 
collected nearly USD2,500 and several boxes of relief goods, 
and colleagues in Guangzhou have raised more than USD 500 to 
add to our collective donation. 
WANG