Typhoons Slams Taiwan, PRC and Japan

Dozens dead and possibly hundreds buried by mudslide..

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32352683/ns/weather

Dozens dead, hundreds missing in Asia storms
Taiwan and China slammed by Typhoon Morakot, while Etau hits Japan

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Two typhoons in Asia have killed dozens of people, left hundreds missing and forced nearly 1 million people to flee to safety, officials and reports said Monday.

In Taiwan, an estimated 400 people are unaccounted for after a mudslide spawned by Typhoon Morakot struck their isolated mountain village, a police official said, and a newspaper quoted a resident as saying as many as 600 were buried.

In Japan, meanwhile, Typhoon Etau slammed into the west coast Monday. Twelve people were killed in raging floodwaters and landslides, and 10 others were missing, police said.

Public broadcaster NHK said at least 10 people are also missing in the typhoon. Police officials could not confirm the report.

Japan's Meteorological Agency warned of heavy precipitation and landslides in eastern Japan as Etau heads north.

Downgraded
Morakot dumped up to 80 inches of rain on some Taiwanese communities over the weekend before moving on to China, where it forced the evacuation of nearly 1 million people along the east coast. Earlier it had struck the Philippines, leaving at least 22 dead.

It has now been downgraded to a tropical storm.

Speaking to The Associated Press, a Taiwanese police official who identified himself by his surname, Wang, said about 100 people have been rescued by military helicopter or avoided Sunday morning's mudslide in southern Shiao Lin village.

Hundreds believed buried in the mud
One of the rescued villagers, Lin Chien-chung, told the United Evening News that he believes as many as 600 people were still buried by the mud.

"The mudslide covered a large part of the village including a primary school and many homes," he was quoted as saying. "A part of the mountain above us just fell on the village."

He did not explain the apparent discrepancy between his estimate of deaths and the policeman's smaller estimate of people still missing.

The village was still cut off from the outside world Monday evening, after flood waters destroyed a bridge about 8 miles away. Military helicopters have dropped provisions in the area and rescued survivors.

Taiwan's official death toll from Morakot stands at 14. Another 51, not including the people in Shiao Lin, are listed as missing
Morakot, meaning emerald in Thai, slammed into China's Fujian province Sunday afternoon carrying heavy rain and winds of 74 miles per hour, according to the China Meteorological Administration. At least one child died after a house collapsed in Zhejiang province.

By early Monday, the storm packed winds of 52 miles per hour, it said.

Hundreds of villages and towns were flooded and more than 2,000 houses had collapsed, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Village officials in Zhejiang rode bicycles to hand out drinking water and instant noodles to residents stranded by flooding, while rescuers tried to reach eight sailors on a cargo ship blown onto a reef off Fujian, Xinhua reported.

 

Hadn't heard about that. Any injuries?

 

Likely 500 dead from typhoon in Taiwan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32413860/ns/weather

Taiwan president: Typhoon killed about 500
Thousands still homeless after island’s most destructive storm in 50 years
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Floods and mudslides unleashed by Typhoon Morakot last weekend have killed about 500 people on the island, Taiwan's president said Friday as he called on rescue crews to step up their efforts.

Morakot left 7,000 people homeless and caused agricultural and property damage in excess of 50 billion New Taiwan dollars ($1.5 billion), President Ma Ying-jeou said at a national security conference, the first called since he took office 15 months ago.

He called it the most severe damage to the island in 50 years.

"While the rescue operation is still going on, we have started rehabilitation and reconstruction work, which is just as imminent but might be even more difficult and cumbersome," Ma said.

Morakot dumped more than 80 inches of rain on the island last weekend and stranded thousands in villages in the mountainous south. A total of 15,400 villagers have been ferried to safety, and rescuers are working to save another 1,900 people still stuck.

Hundreds believed to be still buried
Ma said the death toll includes 120 confirmed deaths, and about 380 people believed to be buried in the debris of a landslide in Shiao Lin, the hardest-hit village.

Authorities have given up hope of finding anyone alive under the tons of mud that now cover Shiao Lin, Kaohsiung county chief Yang Chiu-hsing said. Instead of digging into some 170 mud-buried homes, a memorial park will be built on the site, he told reporters.

With rising public complaints about the slow rescue work, the government said its operations have been hampered because many areas of the country were cut off when roads and bridges collapsed.

Rescuers have relied on helicopters to reach the worst-hit areas, and on Thursday authorities requested larger choppers from foreign governments capable of carrying earth-moving equipment and shelters.

Many villagers have conducted their own rescue operations. More than 20,000 troops have joined civilian workers on rescue, cleanup and rehabilitation work, officials said.