Mingli Village in Hualien’s Wanrong Township was submerged after water from Matai’an Creek overflowed following intense rainfall brought by Tropical Storm Fung Wong, according to the Water Resources Agency (WRA) on November 11, according to Focus Taiwan.

Flooding in this part of eastern Taiwan highlights the growing risk rural communities face as storms intensify, especially where protective infrastructure remains limited or absent.

The WRA stated that flooding began on November 11 evening in an area roughly 2km upstream from a temporary bridge on Provincial Highway 9. Without flood barriers in place, the creek level rose and breached its banks, inundating an industrial road, Mingli Village, and a rice seedling centre.

Agency personnel were deployed to install tetrapods, large concrete blocks designed to break water force, in an attempt to divert the flow and mitigate damage.

Guangfu Township, located just south of Matai’an Creek, suffered deadly flooding on September 23. Mingli Village, about 5km northwest of Guangfu on the creek’s northern bank, sits on a narrow 3km strip of land between Matai’an Creek to the south and the Wanli River to the north, with steep terrain rising to the west. According to Hualien County records, Mingli Village had 287 registered households and 730 residents as of October 2025.

United Daily News reported that WRA Director-General Lin Yuan Peng acknowledged the agency believed Mingli’s higher elevation meant protective levees were unnecessary. Accumulated silt from the September flood had significantly changed the landscape, a factor the agency failed to fully assess.

By evening  on November 11, Tropical Storm Fung Wong was about 280km west southwest of Cape Eluanbi and moving north northeast at 11km per hour. The Central Weather Administration reported a storm radius of 220km, with sustained winds of 101kph and gusts up to 126kph. The storm is expected to weaken, reach southwest Taiwan on November 12 evening, and move back out to sea off Taitung County on November 13.