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Three killed as Dujuan drenches south

A ferry is grounded on the shore in Taitung County in the wake of Typhoon Dujuan yesterday. PHOTO: HUANG MING-TANG, TAIPEI TIMES

The eye of Typhoon Dujuan whistled past southern Taiwan yesterday, killing three people, leaving one missing, shutting down a nuclear power plant, causing landslides in eastern counties and cutting off power to 587,000 families.

Nevertheless, the Central Weather Bureau lifted land and sea warnings after the typhoon passed and domestic air and land transportation returned largely to normal.

According to the bureau, Dujuan is the most powerful typhoon to affect Taiwan so far this year. Officials said abundant rainfall in southern and eastern counties was not matched in the north, which is suffering from water shortages.

The highest rainfall was measured in Maobitou, Pingtung County, at 609mm. Liyutan Reservoir in Hualien had 473mm of rain and Taiping Mountain 374mm.

But two major reservoirs in the north received much less. Shihmen Dam in Taoyuan County got 120mm and Feitsui Reservoir in Taipei County 51mm.

"Rainfall brought by Dujuan only postponed the launch date of the next phase of water restrictions in the north to the end of this month," Water Resources Agency Director Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) said yesterday.

Utility poles lie on the road in Pingtung County's Hsinpi Township afterTyphoon Dujuan struck yesterday. PHOTO: KUO CHING-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES

Forecasters said yesterday that residents in eastern Taiwan should remain alert for torrential rain today.

Eastern Taiwan was the first to feel the effects of Dujuan. Two outlying islands, Orchid Island and Green Island, both part of Taitung County, were soon left in the dark. On Orchid Island, force 17 winds were measured before anemometers began malfunctioning.

In Taitung, high waves dragged four cars into the sea. At Fukang fishing port, Taitung County, a freighter and a passenger ship ran aground after they came lose from their moorings.

In Chinfeng township, a 23-year-old female student, who was part of a group of researchers from National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, was washed away by a river on Monday evening. She was still missing yesterday.

In Taipei, force 10 winds broke branches of trees near the president's residence and caused a wall to topple over.

A 52-year-old security guard in Sanchung, Taipei County, fell out of a 13th floor window he was trying to close.

Another reported death was in Penghu County, where a resident surnamed Lin drowned in the sea.

The third fatality was in Hualien County, when a farmer riding a scooter died after being struck by a shop sign that had come lose.

In southern Kaohsiung County, officials said that NT$38 million of crops were damaged and 260 pigs, worth about NT$3.6 million, perished.

The Council of Agriculture said financial losses incurred by the agricultural sector were limited because farmers had harvested crops before the typhoon arrived. Officials said 4,850 tonnes of frozen vegetables and fruit could meet the immediate demands of consumers.

In Pingtung County, where the ferocious winds turned over trucks, two reactors at the Third Nuclear Power Plant were automatically shut down early yesterday morning following damage to nearby electricity distribution lines.

Officials from the the Atomic Energy Council said that the shutdown caused no radiation leaks and the two reactors remained on standby. Officials said that they would be restarted after an investigation was completed.

Taiwan Power said it had dispatched 1,000 technicians to restore electricity supplies to 587,000 families that lost power early yesterday morning. The company said that most affected families would be reconnected to the grid quickly, although 550 families in remote mountainous areas in Taichung County would remain without power for at least another night.

The Council of Agriculture yesterday notified residents in seven townships in Hualien, Ilan and Nantou counties of the threat of mudflows triggered by continuing rains. The council suggested an immediate evacuation of the seven townships.

Almost 4,000 fishermen from China living on 590 boats took shelter from the wind at several ports.

Cross-island highways in the south and roads in central Nantou County yesterday remained closed.

Dujuan yesterday headed for southern China, causing the cancellation of flights between Taiwan and several cities, including Hong Kong and Macao.
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