Taiwan cleans up after deadly Typhoon Saola

AFP
Friday, Aug 03, 2012

AsiaOne.com TAIPEI – Taiwan started to clean up on Friday after Typhoon Saola lashed the island with powerful winds and downpours that killed six people, flooded villages and damaged roads, officials said.

The central weather bureau on Friday lifted a warning for the slow-moving typhoon that left at least six dead, two missing and 16 wounded after taking 23 lives in the Philippines.

Saola caused an estimated Tw$352 million (S$14.85 million) in agricultural damages as torrential rains submerged rice fields and orchards in the worst-hit Ilan and Hualien counties in the east coast, the government said.

Saola caused agricultural damage estimated at Tw$352 million as torrential rains submerged rice fields and orchards in the worst-hit Ilan and Hualien counties on the east coast, the government said.

Nearly 1.8 metres (70 inches) of rain has fallen in some parts of Ilan since Tuesday, according to the weather bureau, while local media said half the county was flooded during the typhoon.

One highway and 94 cross-county and city roads across Taiwan were damaged by the rains while a railway in the north was partially damaged by mudslides, according to the national fire agency.

Air and rail services had mostly reverted to normal as Saola headed to mainland China on Friday, officials said.

Saola – the first typhoon to hit the island this year – was the worst in terms of loss of life since Typhoon Megi left at least 30 people dead in 2010.