China/Taiwan

One million evacuated as Typhoon hits shore

Article published on the 2009-08-09 Latest update 2009-08-09 14:17 TU

A man receives bottled water from rescue personnel in his flooded yard after Typhoon Morakot hit Pingtung county, southern Taiwan, 9 August 2009.
(Photo: Reuters)

Typhoon Morakot slammed into China’s coastline in Fujian province, prompting the government to evacuate one million people from their homes after mass flooding in Taiwan left tens of thousands trapped.

Officials said three people were confirmed dead and at least 31 were missing as Morakot dumped a record 2.5 metres of rain on the southern county of Pingtung.

At least 10,000 people were trapped in three coastal townships, Pingtung deputy magistrate Chung Chia-pin said, and officials said tens of thousands of other people were also trapped in the counties of Tainan and Chiayi.

"This is the worst flooding in Chiayi in 50 years," county magistrate Chen Ming-wen told reporters.

“In these typhoons, which batter the coastal region of China over the whole summer and autumn months, the procedures for evacuating large numbers of people are very well organised and very much in place,” said Francis Markus, Spokesperson for the International Federation of the red Cross and the Red Crescent in China. “And this fortunately accounts for the usually relatively low number of casualties.”

“Local Red Cross Society of China branches have released supplies prepositioned such as tents and mosquito netting, emergency food supplies and disinfectant to help the people affected by the disaster,” Markus told RFI.

Zhejiang’s provincial government issued a red alert earlier Sunday as it registered a maximum wind speed of nearly 180 kilometres an hour around the coastal city of Taizhou, China’s state news agency Xinhua said.

Gale-force winds were expected to persist for at least three days and waves were forecast to reach as high as seven metres.

Among the missing in Taiwan were 14 workers who disappeared when their makeshift shelter beside a river in southern Kaohsiung county was washed away by rising floodwaters early Sunday.

Armoured vehicles and marine landing craft, as well as rubber dinghies, were mobilised in a rescue operation involving at least 1,200 troops, Taiwan's defence ministry said.

Television footage showed a six-storey hotel in Taitung, southeastern Taiwan, collapsing in the floods. Staff and guests had already been evacuated, the reports said.

The typhoon has caused at least 2.1 billion Taiwan dollars (64 million US) in agricultural damage while 170,000 houses were left without power and 440,000 homes without water, according to officials.