Taipei City Geotechnical Engineering Office

Slope Autonomous Disaster Prevention Communities Are Growing Strong in Taipei City
In order to assist residents of communities on slopes in learning more about the potential environmental hazards to life, and strengthen their capabilities in regard to disaster management, this year the Geotechnical Engineering Office of Taipei City Public Works Department continues to counsel eight slope communities on establishing their autonomous disaster prevention systems. This counseling process includes educational promotion of soil and water conservation and disaster prevention, establishment of community-based disaster prevention organizations, and disaster prevention drills, in order to enhance the slope community residents’ capabilities of maintaining soil and water conservation facilities, as well as their safety awareness.
The Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) said that so far they have counseled and helped with the establishment of autonomous disaster prevention systems in a total of 18 slope communities, including 8 new communities in Beitou, Nangang, Neihu, Xinyi and Wenshan Districts this year. The GEO also continues to track the autonomous disaster prevention communities whose establishment was counseled in the past two years, and help them understand that there are more and more citizens paying attention to the ideas and actions of disaster prevention, which signifies the gradual formation of the slope autonomous disaster prevention network.
By conducting field investigations and education trainings, residents from the slope autonomous disaster prevention communities in Taipei City have built up their disaster prevention knowledge and capabilities in properly maintaining soil and water conservation facilities, as well as simulating possible disaster scenarios and carried out drills by means of simulated possible disaster situations in communities to learn about the appropriate disaster responses. If a typhoon or storm alert is issued, residents can be highly alert and well prepared for any emergency.
Professor Liu Chia-Nan from the Department of Civil Engineering, National Chi Nan University, said that this year the counseling program of autonomous disaster prevention communities has been well received by residents, suggesting that the recent trend of global warming and greater frequency of natural disasters has raised people’s concern about slope living environments. Residents swarmed to ask the specialists of disaster prevention about the methods for reinforcing and protecting their communities. During the disaster prevention drills, residents also show great enthusiasm for playing their respective roles in simulated disaster scenarios, familiarizing themselves with disaster prevention mechanisms to achieve the goal of protecting their own safety.
The GEO plans to conduct a slope disaster drill at the end of October 2016 in Fulin Village, Shilin District. The residents from the autonomous disaster prevention communities newly established in 2016 will participate in the drill of simulated possible slope disaster scenarios caused by typhoons, which is meant to determine how well these residents have learned about mobilization and evacuation, and to reinforce their concept and awareness that “Prevention is more important than rescue; escape is more important than prevention.” During the exercise, NGOs, village and neighborhood heads and all residents that care deeply about their communities will join together to organize teams for disaster prevention, rescue and evacuation. If any disaster does occur, these teams can be immediately mobilized and evacuated to protect the safety of the residents.
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