Guangfu authors collection of 30,000 books ruined in flood

Guangfu authors collection of 30,000 books ruined in flood

2025-10-01

Among the survivors of the flooding in Guangfu is Hawk Rumaling, an author who has worked for years to document the local history and culture. But sadly, his collection of more than 30,000 books was completely destroyed by the deluge. The floodwaters reached his house, pulling volumes off shelves and burying them under a thick layer of mud. Though he is still devastated by the loss, he says he feels lucky to be alive.

An excavator digs up mud… but what it ends up scooping up are books.

Already, there’s a small mountain of ruined volumes.

Liu Liu Shu-chin
Literature professor
This is just a small part of the collection. He had 30,000 books in total across five storage rooms.

Inside the house, the bookshelves are almost bare. Only the books on the top two shelves were spared. Even in areas that the books remain in place, they are muddied and falling apart. The flooding happened so fast that 76-year-old author Hawk Rumaling who lives here barely managed to escape. He was writing at the time.

Hawk Rumaling
Author
I opened the door and heard the water rushing. By then, the water had already reached that spot. It was coming in through that gate.

Hawk Rumaling has long been dedicated to documenting local culture and history, with works ranging from films, scripts and novels. His most precious items were his own field research reports, and a collection of 30,000 books he accumulated over 50 years, storred in five different rooms. He never thought that his rented home on Guangfu’s Houde Road would be so badly damaged.

- If I speak about it I’ll…
- Get sad?
- Not sad. I’ll start to… well…
It’s OK. I’m just like that. I’m fine.
- Are you feeling better now?
- At least I’m still breathing.

The clock in his house stopped at 4:06, the moment that the flood struck, ruining thousands and thousands of books.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#flood #guangfu #books #booklover #literature #hualien

洪水沖入家中"三萬藏書泡湯" 作家赫恪:當作是一次重生

2025-10-01

花蓮馬太鞍溪堰塞湖溢流重創光復鄉，作家赫恪就住在重災區敦厚路，洪水沖進家中時他還在寫作，儘管緊急躲上二樓逃生，但他珍貴的作品及多達三萬本的藏書全泡湯。面對畢生心血瞬間化為烏有，逃過劫難的赫恪一度難以接受。經過這幾天漸漸釋懷，幽默的說:「還好，還在呼吸」、「就當作是一次重生」。

民宅外，小怪手不斷挖起泥巴，但淤泥中鏟起來的全都是書。

轉頭一看，被泡爛的書堆得像小山高。

[[屋主劉柳書琴]]
“這一部分而已，滄海一粟，他有三萬藏書，總共有5個大書庫來容納他的書”

走進房間內，書架上空盪盪，只有最上兩層的書籍得以倖免。還有更多的書，直接在書架上被淹沒，沾滿黑泥已經變成廢紙。洪水來的突然，原本還在寫作的76歲作家赫恪驚險逃生。

[[受災作家赫恪]]
“打開門，聽到水來了，水來了，打開門，那個水已經到這邊，由那個鐵閘門進來”

赫恪，本名林明華，長期投入地方文史工作，作品涵蓋影像、劇本、小說。對他而言，最珍貴的就是眾多田野調查報告，以及蒐藏50年，高達三萬冊，塞滿5個書庫的藏書。但萬萬沒想到，在光復鄉厚德路的租屋處，卻成了這次溢流的重災區。

-說太多話，就會那個
-會難過?
-不是難過，就會開始....會...
沒有，我這個人，可以啦，平安
- 現在心情平復下來?
- 還在呼吸就好”

時鐘就停在洪水來襲的4點零6分，泡湯的三萬藏書就像逝去的光陰，再也回不來！

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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