Fri, Aug 14, 2009 - Page 1 News List

MORAKOT: THE AFTERMATH: Patience running out in clean-up effort

STRANDED More than 10,000 people are still trapped in isolated townships around the nation, running out of food and water, while hundreds are feared dead

By Loa Iok-sin and Shelley Shan  /  STAFF REPORTERS, WITH AGENCIES

DGH contractors still cannot cross the section of Highway 21 from Jiaxian to Xiaolin and Namasiya. The contractors are also unable to pass the section of Highway 20 from Liukuei to Laonong (荖濃), Baolai (寶來), Taoyuan and Meishan villages, he said.

The sections of road between Maolin (茂林) and Duonah (多納), between Lidao (利稻) and Meishan on Highway 20, between Sandimen (三地門) and Wutai (霧台) on Highway 24, and between Taimali and Fonggang (楓港) on Highway 9 are also severely eroded. They won’t become accessible until next week.

“The typhoon damage is different from the damage caused by the 921 Earthquake,” Yeh said. “As soon as we clear debris, landslides come to undo our work.”

On Wednesday, two excavators that were on Highway 27 were washed away by the mudslides.

The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said the South Link (南迴鐵路) will not resume full operation for another five months because the Linbienshi Bridge (林邊溪橋) and two other bridges were inundated by water. Currently, trains can operate between Pingtung and Nanchou (南州) as well as between Taitung and Taimali.

As of 10pm yesterday, the death toll from Typhoon Morakot had climbed to 116, with 59 people listed as missing and 45 injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said.

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