TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Rescue teams are working to make water from Hualien’s Liwu barrier lake stream back into the river bed to prevent flooding, officials said Saturday.

The emergence of the lake as a result of rockfalls Friday led to the closure of the Central Cross-Island Highway between Tianxiang and Taroko, while hundreds of residents in two Indigenous villages were forced to leave their homes. While the water from Liwu River flooded the road’s Jin Heng Tunnel around midnight, damaging monitoring systems, it later flowed back into the river, per CNA.

Minister without Portfolio Chi Lien-cheng (季連成) said the barrier lake contained 2.7 million cubic meters of water, but after flooding the road, the water turned back to rejoin the course of the Liwu River. As a result, downstream areas face a limited risk of flooding.

If conditions allow, bulldozers and other equipment will be sent to the barrier lake to trace a route for the water to follow, keeping it flowing along the Liwu River bed to reduce the threat to other areas, according to Chi.

The entire Taroko National Park was closed down following the discovery of the barrier lake. The potential impact of Tropical Storm Fengshen, which was expected to cause abundant rainfall in north and east Taiwan from the weekend, had caused fears of flooding in Xiulin Township. 

The overflow of the Mataian barrier lake after Typhoon Ragasa last month left at least 19 people dead in Hualien’s Guangfu Township.