Thu, Aug 02, 2001 page2

• Rescue efforts race against time

  NATIOANL DISASTER With 75 people reported dead and more than 100 missing, Toraji could well prove to be the deadliest typhoon to hit Taiwan in four decades

  • By Chuang Chi-ting / STAFF REPORTER
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  The death toll from Typhoon Toraji mounted to 75 yesterday, while the number of injured reached 36.

  Rescue operations continued despite fading hopes for the survival of the 133 people buried by mudslides or swept away by flash floods in the deadly storm that whirled across Taiwan on Monday. A hiker was also reported "untraceable" in Ilan.

  Toraji, which may yet prove to be Taiwan's deadliest typhoon in four decades, wreaked its worst havoc on the east coast's Hualien County and neighboring Nantou County in central Taiwan.

  

  The Tungshih harbor in Chiayi is completely blocked by fallen trees and debris washed into the harbor from the mountain side in the aftermath of Typhoon Toraji, rendering fishing.

  PHOTO: HUANG CHUN-CHE, TAIPEI TIMES

  In 1963, typhoon Gloria left 312 dead in its wake.

  Taiwan's international allies, including St. Christopher and Nevis, El Salvador and Dominica, have expressed their sympathy for Taiwan's suffering, said Katharine Chang (張小月), Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman. Some Japanese congressmen have also expressed their concern for Taiwan.

  Chang added that Henry Hyde, chairman of the US House International Relations Committee, expressed his sympathy to Taiwan.

  In Hualien County, 27 people died in the typhoon and 26 were reported missing, while another 15 were injured.

  The Chinese Dog Rescue and Search Association yesterday dispatched five trainers and two search dogs to Tahsiung Village (大興村) in Hualien County, which was engulfed by mudslides that buried over ten households. Many villagers are still buried under mud and rocks.

  In Nantou County, one of the areas most devastated by the 921 earthquake two years ago, 25 are confirmed dead and 89 missing, with 20 injured.

  The earthquake -- which claimed roughly 2,400 lives -- left Nantou particularly prone to mudslides.

  Sung Chiu-ming (松秋明), a former Nantou county councilor, said his township, Hsinyi (信義), has more fatalities than it did after the 921 earthquake.

  "Please send bulldozers to dig out the corpses and send helicopters to collect the remains, as they are beginning to stink and decay with the increasing temperature," Sung said as he handed in a list of missing residents of the township to the Nantou fire department.

  He added that the stranded residents, suffering from transportation difficulties due to collapsed bridges, urgently need an airdrop of food supplies and diesel fuel for electric generators.

  Many houses collapsed in Nantou's indigenous communities, Nantou officials said, who appealed for funds and supplies.

  The 921 Earthquake Disaster Reconstruction Foundation established by the Executive Yuan to approve proposals and distribute funds for relief work from central and local government agencies and NGOs yesterday announced the allocation of NT$200 million to help earthquake-affected areas battered by the typhoon.

  The Ministry of the Interior yesterday set up three accounts to receive donations for relief efforts.

  The National Fire Administration reported that Toraji caused 93 mudslides and landslides, most of them in Nantou. The administration said that 20,990 households were experiencing a telecommunications breakdown, 521,130 households remain without water and 12,165 households have no electricity.

  According to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, full rail service was resumed along the west coast yesterday. But full services on the east coast Hualien-Taitung Line will not resume for almost two weeks.

  The ministry estimated that repairs to the nation's transport network could cost at least NT$400 million. The Council of Agriculture estimated agricultural losses at NT$3.93 billion.

  For your information

  Relief efforts

  The Ministry of the Interior yesterday set up three accounts to receive donations for relief efforts. Money can be deposited into any of the following three accounts: Post office: 19595889 Central bank: 69981 Foreign donations: ICBC 00709087816
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