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Village missing after landslide

The Yihsing section of the No. 120 County Highway in Hsinchu, which has been virtually washed away by Typhoon Aere. The torrential rains brought by Aere, and the resultant flooding, damaged many roads in the Aboriginal townships of Chienshih and Wufeng in Hsinchu County. PHOTO: TSAI MENG-HSIANG, TAIPEI TIMES

A landslide triggered by Typhoon Aere buried a mountain village in northern Taiwan yesterday, with the fate of at least 20 residents unknown, the government's disaster relief center said.

Witnesses who escaped the landslide in Wufeng village in the northern county of Hsinchu told local authorities they saw about 24 homes being buried. Officials said the villagers had been told to evacuate before the typhoon arrived.

"We told the villagers to evacuate before the typhoon hit but it is not clear whether they have evacuated," an official at a disaster relief center said by telephone.

"The situation is unclear, since our rescuers can't reach there by walking, because the Nanching Highway, the only path to the mountainout village, is blocked off by landslide and tumbled rocks," said Chung Chin-liang (鐘進亮), chief of the township's mountain disaster relief team.

Hsinchu County Commissioner Cheng Yung-chin (鄭永金) announced on TV last night that two helicopters and special rescue teams will enter the village tomorrow to search for the villagers.

"We doubt if there are still residents there, since many of them were evacuated one day earlier," Cheng said.

Typhoon Aere weakened over northern Taiwan yesterday after bringing heavy rain to central and northern parts of the nation.

However, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) warned residents in the south of the danger of catastrophic rains today and tomorrow.

Northern and eastern Taiwan was hit by strong winds and heavy rain. As of 3pm yesterday, the Cabinet's National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission reported that Aere had caused a total of five deaths and 23 injuries, while five people remained missing.

In Wufeng Township, Hsinchu County, mountain torrents claimed four lives in Taoshan Village. In Hengshan Township, Hsinchu County, one person died after being hit by a falling electric pole.

Both sea and land warnings might be lifted today. Forecasters said yesterday that more rain would drench the south, because the center of Aere would enter the Taiwan Strait today and move west-southwest.

Expect heavy rains to cause disasters such as landslides, mudflows, and flooding in parts of southern Taiwan, forecasters said.

"Northern Taiwan will become less affected by Aere. However, residents in mountainous areas in central and southern parts of Taiwan have to be highly alert to heavy rains in the following days," said Fred Tsai (蔡甫甸), a division chief of the the bureau's Weather Forecast Center.

As of 5pm yesterday, the most accumulated rainfall -- 1,545mm -- was measured in Miaoli County. In Pailan, Hsinchu County, 1,334mm rainfall was measured.

In several parts of central Taiwan, which had been hit by floods on July 2 when Tropical Storm Mindulle passed, rainfall exceeding 1,000mm was measured over the past two days.

The bureau yesterday predicted that southern Taiwan might receive abundant rainfall today.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday inspected the Cabinet's disaster relief center, ordering local authorities not to lower their guard, because more rains will come.

Due to the storm, more than 337,000 homes in northern Taiwan suffered power losses on at least one occasion. According to Taipower, about two thirds of affected households had regained electricity as of yesterday. Thousands of households in Nantou County and Taichung County were left without tap water, because water facilities had been damaged by flooding.

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