As Typhoon Ragasa neared Taiwan, rain pounded a little-known lake in the upper reaches of a mountain range on the island’s eastern coast.

随着台风“桦加沙”逼近台湾，一场暴雨猛烈袭击了岛屿东海岸山脉深处一处鲜为人知的湖泊。

After nearly two days, the lake burst through its dams on Tuesday afternoon, unleashing torrents of water that careered down the side of a mountain and inundated the rural town of Guangfu, home to 10,000 people.

经过将近两天的强降雨，周二下午，该湖泊决堤，巨大的水流沿着山坡倾泻而下，淹没了有1万人口的光复乡。

 By Wednesday, at least 14 people had been confirmed dead and 17 others were missing.

截至周三，至少已有14人确认死亡，另有17人失踪。

Residents of Guangfu, a picturesque tourist destination, were left grappling with the damage wrought by Ragasa, the most powerful storm in the world so far this year. Many people who live in Guangfu are older adults.

光复乡是一个风景如画的热门旅游目的地，这里的民众正艰难应对“桦加沙”带来的破坏。这是今年全球最强的一场风暴。光复乡的居民多为老年人。

Business owners in the town tried to salvage their properties, many of which were covered in mud and damaged by the torrents of water. The owner of one bookstore said that water had flooded in so fast that the glass windows of her shop were smashed.

镇上的商户试图挽救他们的财产，许多店面被泥浆覆盖，遭到洪水摧毁。一家书店的老板表示，水势来得太快，甚至冲破了店铺的玻璃窗。

Other residents said that flooded ground floors forced them to take refuge on higher levels. Rescuers had to break the doors and windows of some buildings to reach those trapped inside.

还有民众表示，一楼被淹后，他们被迫转移到楼上避难。救援人员不得不强行打开门窗，才能进入部分建筑物救出受困者。

Guangfu, which is part of Hualien County, is in a less-populated part of Taiwan that is known for agriculture and tourism. Officials said that more than 700 acres of farmland for rice, corn and other crops had been submerged, which is expected to cause millions of dollars in losses in Guangfu and nearby towns.

光复乡隶属于花莲县，是台湾一个人口较少的地区，以农业和旅游业闻名。官员称，超过283公顷的稻田、玉米和其他农作物被淹，预计将给光复乡及周边地区造成数百万美元的经济损失。

“The water came too quickly,” said Tseng Shu-cheng, 70, the owner of a hostel that is near where most of the casualties were found. She said that she had waited on the second floor of her building all Tuesday night because she had been too afraid to come out, even as the waters receded. “I have never in my life seen such terrifying scenes,” she added.

“水来得太快，”70岁的曾淑贞说，她经营的一家民宿靠近伤亡最严重的地区。她说自己整个星期二晚上都躲在二楼，不敢外出，哪怕水势已经开始退去。“我这辈子从没见过这么可怕的景象，”她补充说。

Since Tuesday, social media platforms have been flooded with messages from people trying to find missing family members. Hundreds of firefighters and soldiers dispatched to Guangfu have gone door to door to check for trapped residents.

从周二开始，社交媒体上不断出现寻找失踪亲人的求助信息。数百名消防员和士兵被派往光复乡，挨家挨户搜寻受困居民。

One group of siblings returned home to find that their 90-year-old mother had died in her bed during the flooding. Water marks on the bedroom wall rose as high as five feet. They believe their mother was unable to escape in time.

有一对兄妹回到家中，发现90岁的母亲在洪水中死于床上。卧室墙上留下的水痕超过1.5米。他们认为母亲因未能及时逃生而遇难。

Typhoon Ragasa did not make landfall in Taiwan but still wrought havoc on the island. Shun Chi-ming, the former director of the Hong Kong Observatory, a government weather monitor, said rising temperatures in the sea and atmosphere caused heavier rainfall during typhoons. That is why the Hualien area experienced “such severe damage and loss of life” even though Ragasa was relatively far away, he said.

尽管“桦加沙”并未在台湾登陆，依然对岛上造成了巨大破坏。香港天文台前台长岑智明表示，海洋和大气温度的上升导致台风期间降雨量加剧。这就是为何即使“桦加沙”距离尚远，花莲地区仍遭受“如此严重的破坏与生命损失”的原因。

Residents said that cars and refrigerators had floated away as the floodwaters rose. One of the town’s main bridges was also destroyed.

居民表示，洪水上涨时，汽车和冰箱都被冲走。镇上一座主要桥梁也被毁。

Officials said that an evacuation notice for residents had been issued at 7 a.m. on Tuesday. However, not all residents left.

官员称，周二早上7点已经发出居民撤离通知，但并非所有人都已撤离。

Taiwan’s premier, Cho Jung-tai, visited Guangfu on Wednesday and said that the government would investigate why evacuations “were not carried out in areas where they were requested.”

台湾行政院长卓荣泰于周三前往光复视察，并表示政府将调查为何“在要求撤离的地方，却沒有执行撤离”。

At a makeshift shelter on Wednesday, government officials suddenly began shouting for residents to go to a higher floor because they feared another wave of flooding. People rushed to get upstairs and helped carry those who could not walk. In the chaos, a woman was injured.

周三，在一个临时避难所里，政府官员突然大声喊叫，要求居民前往高楼层，因为担心再次发生洪水。人们纷纷冲上楼，并帮忙抬运行动不便者。在混乱中，一名妇女受伤。

Elsewhere, trucks kept pulling up in front of schools, churches and day care centers that had been turned into temporary shelters to deliver donated supplies like food, water and diapers.

与此同时，卡车不断驶向已被改造成临时避难所的学校、教堂和托儿所，运送食物、饮用水和尿布等捐赠物资。

As of Wednesday, the heaviest rains had stopped. Left behind was damage, heartbreak, and, Guangfu residents said, a long road to recovery.

截至周三，最强降雨已经停止。留给光复乡居民的，是破坏、心碎，以及一条漫长的重建之路。