Typhoon Morakot made landfall in Taiwan Aug. 7, continuing into southeastern China on Aug. 10. In Taiwan, the typhoon might have already caused hundreds of deaths and close to a record-high economic loss in the fishing industry. Morakot continues to bombard China with torrential rains, causing deadly floods.
This is the most severe flooding to take place in Taiwan in the last 50 years. Some areas reported over 80 inches of rain. Hsiaolin Village in southern Kaohsiung County was severely impacted. Based on Taiwan media reports, early in the morning of Aug. 9, mudslides had buried hundreds of villagers alive.
Authorities in Taiwan sent out troops and helicopters. Over a hundred villagers have been rescued and taken to hospitals and shelters. Several hundred were still buried. The search for people using life detectors showed no life signals in the mud-covered area.
There are still 400 missing in one village, based on an initial estimate. According to those rescued, there might be 600 more buried.
By 8 p.m. on Aug. 11, there were 62 confirmed deaths, 57 missing, and 35 injured. The situation in Hsiaolin Village remains unclear and is excluded from these numbers.
Economic losses in agriculture are estimated at US$220 million and in the fishing industry are estimated at US$91 million, the highest loss since 1990.
Marakot Strikes Mainland China
By 4 p.m. on Aug. 11, Typhoon Morakot has already struck 11 million people in five provinces in southeastern China. There are eight confirmed deaths and three missing people. About 1.6 million people have been forced to relocate. Over 10,000 houses collapsed, and 450,000 hectares of farmland were destroyed. The estimated loss due to the typhoon is US$1.4 billion.
Zhejiang Province was hit the hardest—3,000 villages lost power, the Sidu Reservoir in Lishui City collapsed at midnight, traffic to Cangnang County is completely blocked, and mountain torrents flowed into Fenghua City. As of this report, Zhejiang Province remains on the highest typhoon alert level.
Morakot is moving eastward into the Yellow Sea and is slowly weakening.
Read original Chinese article .
