The Yang family, who drowned during the typhoon seven years ago, is honored at the center of the bridge, in the shape of small, medium-size and large Chinese characters "ren" (person) -- three people standing with their legs spread.

Yang Che-hsiang, a student at Taichung's National Taichung First Senior High School and her mother were swept along the river when the old East Gate Bridge collapsed following torrential rainfall brought by Typhoon Toraji on July 30, 2001.

Three weeks later, Yang's father was found dead on the bank of the river, after having attempted numerous times to find the bodies of his wife and child.

Since the incident, the former principal of Taichung's National Taichung First Senior High School has mobilized its students to regularly visit Yang Che-hsiang's grandmother.

Typhoon Toraji ravaged Taiwan July 29-30, leaving more than 100 people dead in its wake, according to statistics compiled by the nation's Anti-Disaster Center.

The center rated Toraji as the seventh most deadly typhoon to hit Taiwan since 1958, causing NT$6.63 billion in agricultural and livestock losses.

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