When the Waters Rose: Taiwanese Solidarity in Guangfu

On September 23rd, 2025, a barrier lake in Hualien County burst, submerging the small township of Guangfu in mud and water. Within hours, volunteers poured in from across Taiwan: students, retirees, construction workers. They carried shovels, power tools, and supplies. No one waited for government orders; they simply did what needed to be done.

Local authorities struggled to coordinate relief, slowed by partisan politics, miscommunication, and bureaucratic delays. Meanwhile, the volunteers pressed on. They cleared roads, salvaged homes, cooked for displaced families, and searched for the missing. Many had never been to Guangfu before.

This photo essay documents that effort—not just the rebuilding of homes but the solidarity that defines Taiwanese society. Compassion runs deep, as does a refusal to be passive. Even when official channels faltered, people stepped up. Challenges may come to Taiwan, but the Taiwanese people don’t flinch.

A sign that says "I need a hand" in both Chinese and English is posted outside the door of a building in Guangfu Township in Hualien County, Taiwan.
A Taiwanese soldier who has been sent to Guangfu to aid in the flood recovery efforts touches the Taiwanese flag as he passes by. The flag is hanging from a building.
A pile of dirty rubber work boots is in the foreground and Guangfu flood recovery volunteers can be seen in the background cleaning.
Volunteers are helping one another board a tall military truck in Guangfu Township, Taiwan. They are there to aid in the recovery efforts after a massive flood.
A yellow car is parked on the side of a dusty, muddy road in Guangfu. Messages of encouragement are written in the dirt of the car and a street cleaning car is driving down the road.
A yellow street-cleaning truck is driving down a muddy street in Guangfu Township and blasting water everywhere in order to clean the street after the flood.
A group of Taiwanese soldiers that have been sent down to aid in the Guangfu flood recovery efforts can be seen marching down a muddy street.
An old woman waits for aid at a community center in Guangfu. She is hunshed over and military personnel can be seen behind her.
Two volunteers who are aiding in the Guangfu flood recovery efforts are holding a small kitten that they found among the wreckage.
A Guangfu flood recovery volunteer can be seen digging mud and silt out of a sewer in Hualien County, Taiwan.
A Guangfu flood recovery volunteer is massaging another volunteer's leg outside Guangfu Train Station.
Mobile military showers are set up outside Guangfu Train Station in Hualien.
A Guangfu recovery volunteer is standing next to a mobile kitchen in the courtyard outside Guangfu Train Station and showing a sign of solidarity with his hand.
A volunteer in protective clothing is disinfecting a residential street after the 2025 Guangfu flood in Taiwan.
A color image of a community sign poking out of the mud and rubble on Buddha Street in Guangfu.
A sliver of road has been carved out from the mud after the Guangfu flooding in Hualien, Taiwan. You can see walls of mud on either side of the road.
A woman's muddy legs are in the foreground and a temple gate is in the background. She is standing on a muddy street in Guangfu Township in Hualien County.
A wheelbarrow holding shovels is in the foreground, and two Guangfu recovery volunteers are in the mid ground of the image. The mountains of Hualien can be seen in the background.
A flooded home in Guangfu. The balcony is covered in mud and silt.
A photo of a couple is on the wall of a home destroyed by water and mud in the 2025 Guangfu flood. A visible water line can be seen just below the photo and volunteers are in the background.
A red Lunar New Year decoration is on a wall in a home that was destroyed in the Guangfu flooding. It's torn and covered in mud. The gold Chinese characters say "peace within, safety without."