Fuxinggang Metro Station - Soldier Building a Sandbag Wall | Guandu Metro Station “Carnival of the Animals” × Fuxinggang Metro Station “Big Contributions from Small Soldiers”

Soldier Building a Sandbag Wall

Every year when summer comes, typhoon season begins. The army must not only protect the country but also act in concert with the disaster prevention needs of local governments. Accordingly, it dispatches soldiers to offer support. Even before a typhoon hits, the army mobilizes its soldiers. Before a strong typhoon lands, the soldiers race against time to distribute sandbags to people in need. They spare no effort piling up sandbags on lowlands.

Engineer Corps

The Engineer Corps is a specialized force that participates both in warfare and disaster relief. When disaster strikes, it helps with road repairs, bridge reconstruction, boulder blasting, emergency water provision, and more. In times of war, it contributes primarily to the mobility of our troops, obstruction of enemy forces, and combat service support. With expert support on mechanical joint operations, road repairs, bridge erection, construction, and cleanup, etc., the armed forces can focus on thwarting adversary troops and ensuring the security of our nation.

Extended Reading

Military Rescue Operations in the Wake of Typhoon Morakot

August 5, 2009, looked to be a day like any other in Taiwan. The weather forecast on television was reporting that the Central Weather Bureau had issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Morakot, a mid-strength typhoon heading straight for the island.

Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan during a dry summer. It hadn’t rained for some time and reservoirs were running low. People counted on the typhoon to bring rain to relieve the drought. It was beyond anyone’s imagination that the storm would become one of the island’s most devastating weather events in history. The storm made landfall at Hualien 10 minutes before midnight on August 7 and exited off the coast of Taoyuan the next day. Within a day’s time, it had wreaked grievous havoc across the southeastern part of the island.

Morakot brought in southwestern air currents that swept across the entire island. In Kaohsiung County, massive landslides wiped out the entire Siaolin Village in Jiasian and devastated other areas such as Namasia Village and Liouguei’s Sinkai Village. The emergency release of water from the Tsengwen Reservoir caused the embankment among the lower reaches of the river to collapse. Reports of major damages came one after the next in the ensuing days of the storm.

People stared at their TVs in shock as the news became inundated with scenes of buildings being washed away by floods. The desperate situation called for all branches of the military to join forces for disaster relief. Since the storm had cut off most of the roads leading to disaster areas, hampering rescue operations, helicopters were deployed as an immediate measure to provide supplies and rescue.

The armed forces quickly established solidarity with villagers. A soldier returning to his home village as part of the relief efforts wanted his grandmother to quickly evacuate to safety. However, she insisted on staying to provide meals for other villagers. She assured him that she felt safe with the armed forces there and urged him to get back with his unit to support relief operations.

It was humbling to behold the force of nature. Many who experienced the storm firsthand said it all happened so abruptly that their mind went blank. Thanks to the arrival of the armed forces, people regained composure and began to console and help one another, getting back on their feet to rebuild their homes.