A landslide occurred near Suhua Highway's Daqingshui Tunnel on Jan. 11, destroying rock sheds and sending large amounts of debris into the tunnel and cutting off bidirectional traffic. The Directorate General of Highways has already sent personnel to rush repairs and estimates the road won't reopen until Jan. 15.
After heavy rain, a landslide occurred on the 159.3-kilometer mark of the Suhua Highway at 11:55 p.m. on Jan. 11. The police set up barricades at the northern and southern ends of Daqingshui Tunnel to prevent entry. Some motorists waited around to see if the road would become accessible again, and some commented that the highway remains as dangerous as ever even after improvements.
Mr. Lu, Northbound Motorist: “It collapsed half an hour before I got here, and the police told me not to go so I've been waiting here. I'm the first one in line.”
Mr. Li, Northbound Motorist: “Have you noticed that in all of the main island of Taiwan, only Hualien and Taitung don't have expressways and freeways?”
The Directorate General of Highways launched a camera drone after daybreak to assess the damage. It discovered that the entire mountainside above the tunnel had collapsed, and estimated that 1,200 cubic meters of rocks destroyed 17 meters of the concrete rock shed and eight meters of the steel rock shed below. The repair work will be complicated by the narrowness of the road, so it won't be completed until 5 p.m. on Jan. 15 at the earliest. The tourism industry is closely monitoring the situation.
Yeh Chin-ching, Chairperson, Hualien Home Stay Association: “I hope this situation doesn't affect tourism over the Lunar New Year. We hope that relevant units can eliminate the obstruction as quickly as possible.”
Chang Chuan-han, Chairperson, Hualien Hotel Association: “Right now, less than 5 percent have canceled or postponed their reservations. However, we estimate that 20 to 30 percent will ultimately be affected.”
Suhua Highway is currently inaccessible, so people have to take the Central Cross-Island Highway or South Link Highway. Taiwan Railway will add 12 shuttle trains serving Yilan and Hualien to its daily schedule and also operate cargo trains to deliver produce to the north. The Maritime Port Bureau arranged for cargo ships to provide assistance.
Wu Chin-tien, Director, Hualien Depot, Taiwan Railway: “There are still about 1,400 seats available for northbound services today. We're more concerned right now about tour buses, as these tour group members may take the railway instead.”
Intercity bus companies posted announcements about the suspension of the service between Taipei's Nangang and Hualien City via National Freeway 5. The DGH has set up a command post at the site of the disaster and heavy machinery is arriving to help out with the repairs. There have been no reports of vehicles or people caught in the landslide.
受到大雨不斷影響，蘇花公路159.3公里處的大清水隧道內，11日晚間11時55分突然崩塌。為了安全起見，警方在北端仁水隧道與南端崇德設下管制站禁止進入。但仍有駕駛在此等待搶通，不滿蘇花改蓋好後還是一樣危險。
北上駕駛呂先生表示：「我來的時候，前面半小時就坍了。然後警察就叫我不要過去，我就在這邊等，我就第1台。」
北上駕駛李先生說：「你看看我們全台灣本島，就只有花蓮、台東，沒有快速道路、沒有高速公路。」
公路總局天亮派空拍機勘查，初步發現隧道上方的山壁整片崩塌。約有1200立方米的落石，壓毀下方混泥土明隧道17公尺，及鋼構明隧道8公尺。因路幅狹小，施工困難，最快要15日下午5時才能搶通，讓觀光業者很憂心。
花蓮縣民宿協會理事長葉陳景表示：「希望這個狀況不會影響到整個春節的旅遊狀況。那也希望有關單位能以最迅速的方式，將此障礙排除。」
花蓮旅館商業同業公會理事長張琄菡指出：「目前來說，其實取消的或延期的不到5%。但最後我們認為，影響的應該會在20%到30%左右。」
蘇花公路中斷，民眾只能改走台8線中橫或南迴公路。為此台鐵將加開每日12班宜花區間車，並啓動貨物列車蔬果北運機制，航港局也協調台北快輪與合富輪前往支援。
台鐵花蓮運務段長吳金添表示：「今天的話北上的座位，大概還有1400多個座位。我們現在比較擔心的是遊覽車的部分，它可能這些團客會移轉到台鐵這邊來。」
此外，國道客運也發出告示，南港經由國道5至花蓮市的路線停駛。公路總局已在現場成立災害前進指揮所，大型機具陸續進駐開始搶修，目前並沒有發現車輛或人員被壓在土石中。
