TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) offered commendation on Wednesday (July 16) for the swift recovery progress across typhoon-ravaged regions of southern and central Taiwan, crediting the remarkable turnaround to seamless coordination between national government agencies, municipal authorities, and community volunteers. During her inspection tour of affected areas, Liu underscored the administration's unwavering dedication to further strengthening the island's disaster prevention infrastructure and emergency response systems to mitigate future storm impacts.
The powerful Typhoon Danas had caused extensive destruction across multiple regions, compelling the Ministry of Interior (MOI, 內政部), one of Taiwan's key government agencies, to mobilize newly graduated officers from the Central Police University (中央警察大學) and Taiwan Police College (警專) to support cleanup operations. Minister Liu personally traveled to hard-hit Yunlin County to recognize these officers for their restoration work. Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Taiwan's head of government, revealed an enhanced compensation package for damaged homes, with payments calibrated according to property size to streamline claims for displaced residents.
Officials highlighted a technological milestone in Taiwan's disaster response capabilities with the inaugural deployment of a nationwide typhoon warning system that delivered evacuation advisories directly to residents' mobile phones via text message. The targeted alerts proved remarkably effective in reducing potential casualties by providing timely evacuation guidance to communities in the storm's projected path. Local recovery efforts have shown impressive results, according to Hsiao Te-shu (蕭德恕), who heads Yunlin County's Civil Affairs Department, with more than 200 uniformed personnel working continuously through the past four days to achieve approximately 90% restoration of the county's visual landscape and essential infrastructure. ◼
