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Central Taiwan counting the cost of Typhoon Toraji

Rescue workers yesterday inspect a building in Nantou County's Shuili township, which was nearly demolished by a mudslide strewn with huge boulders. PHOTO: TUNG CHEN-KUO, TAIPEI TIMES

The death toll from Typhoon Toraji rose to 61 yesterday as rescue teams scoured the hardest-hit areas for remaining survivors. There was little hope that another 152 missing individuals would be found as rescue efforts pressed beyond the critical first 72 hours.

The destruction which the storm wrought was the worst in nearly four decades, since Typhoon Gloria left 312 dead in its wake in 1963.

Raging waters and mudslides, which swept away or buried homes, cars, bridges and mountain roads, were responsible for most of the fatalities, officials said.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), accompanied by Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) and other cabinet officials, yesterday made an inspection tour of typhoon-hit areas, including Hualien and Nantou counties.

Arriving in Hualien's Dahsin community yesterday morning, Chen was immediately besieged by sobbing families of victims, many on their knees, who urged the government to help them with local reconstruction work.

"The flood rose this high," one of community residents cried, raising his arms high above his head and recalling the typhoon's destructive power. "We nearly drowned."

President Chen Shui-bian and other officials inspect a road in Nantou County that caved in during Typhoon Toraji. PHOTO: HSIEH CHIEH-YU, TAIPEI TIMES

"Both of my parents are missing. I must have lost them," another tearful resident said.

Saying he empathized with them, Chen told residents that "the government's priority is to find those who are missing and find housing for those made homeless."

He also instructed the premier to establish a special ministerial task force to address issues such as a possible mass relocation of residents of the flooded areas, river dredging and reconstruction efforts.

Police and medical workers in Nantou County yesterday used helicopters to transport victims of Typhoon Toraji to local hospitals. PHOTO: LU CHANG-PING, TAIPEI TIMES

Responding to Chen's remarks, Chang said that the task force would be officially formed today to be headed by Minister without Portfolio Huang Jung-tsun (黃榮村).

"The government feels the pain suffered by the people," Chang said, vowing to pull out all the stops to provide victims with relief.

Chen, along with his entourage, later expressed their condolences to the families of deceased police officers, Lin The-fu (林德夫) and Tsai Cheng-tsai (蔡振財), who died when their patrol car was buried beneath a mudslide.

While in Nantou County later in the afternoon, Chen instructed the Cabinet to coordinate with the legislative caucus leaders of the various political parties to allocate a sufficient relief budget for the devastated county, which also suffered considerably during the 921 earthquake.

He also urged government agencies to restore power supplies, telecommunications links and transportation services as soon as possible in the county.

Expressing her sorrow, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday also arrived in hard-hit Nantou County to receive County Commissioner Peng Pai-hsien's (彭百顯) report on the typhoon's damage.

"My heart feels heavy when I see what has happened to Nantou County," Lu said, adding that she would ask the central government to help local governments with relief efforts.

The typhoon killed 24 in Hualien and 17 in Nantou, even after it weakened into a tropical storm after making landfall. In addition, there are 37 missing and 14 injured in Hualien, while the typhoon left 18 injured and 92 missing in Nantou.

According to the National Fire Administration's Disaster Rescue Command Center, there were still 11 Nantou residents trapped by disrupted transportation due to mudslides. The landslides also stranded 700 Taichung residents in Sungho village.

The center said there were 43 mudslides, most of them located in Nantou County, where the seismic activity has made the county prone to mudflows.

According to Taiwan Power Company, the typhoon was responsible for power outages at 349,013 households. The company estimated that by midnight tonight some 9,628 households would still have no power supply.

"The resumption of power to these households may be delayed because of traffic disruption," the company said.

Most of the electricity shortages occurred in Nantou, Hualien and on Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County, the company said.

The disaster rescue center said there were 109 road problems -- most of which in the Nantou and Taichung areas.

Railway services along the western coast have been suspended due to damage from flash floods, but are expected to resume today.

The Hualien-Taitung line, however, is expected to remain closed for over two weeks for structural repairs to the bridges along the line.

Typhoon Toraji also caused a loss of phone communication services to over 70,887 households.

Meanwhile, because water has been contaminated by soil and mud washed down from mountain areas, some 449,325 households in Hualien, Nantou, Miaoli, Chiayi and the Taichung area remain without water.

Agricultural and livestock losses caused by the typhoon have been estimated at over NT$1.28 billion.

Around 26,078 hectares of farmland were damaged by the storm, while 6,032 pigs, 242,000 chickens, 4,000 geese, 49,000 ducks, 30 goats and 50 cattlewere reportedly killed.

After hitting Taiwan, Toraji slammed into southeast China's Fujian province, officials in China said yesterday.

Fujian television reported that nearly 3,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas before the storm hit, and that there were no immediate reports of casualties.
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