1. Gym bros, monks, retirees: thousands descend on Taiwan town to clean up after devastating flood
2. Tens of thousands of volunteers have swarmed the Taiwanese town of Guangfu to help after a mudslide sparked by typhoon rains on 23 September sent more than 15m tones of water, dirt and debris into its streets.
3. They arrived by train, car and motorbike, in boots and bucket hats and carrying shovels.
4. Dubbed the “shovel supermen”, they have come to Guangfu in their tens of thousands, as volunteers ready to help after a distant typhoon burst a natural dam and sent millions of tones of water, mud and silt crashing through the streets.
5. This small town in Hualien, a picturesque county on Taiwan’s east coast had long been a magnet for tourists, before disaster had struck a week ago.
6. Some of the volunteers have answered social media pleas from residents, or come directly to the homes of friends or relatives.
7. While disasters always stretch resources, this one has sparked an unsavory fight over blame between county officials and the central government, who are from rival parties.
8. Guangfu’s disaster soon left international headlines, but in Taiwan, social media feeds are still full of scenes from the clean-up.
9. Some give advice for anyone else wanting to help this town on the long road ahead, one person even wrote a song, but most just want to share some hope in the wake of disaster.