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TAIWAN-STORM-FLOOD-DISASTER
Six dead, thousands evacuated in Taiwan floods
TAIPEI, Aug 25, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Six people have been killed by
floodwaters in Taiwan, officials said Saturday, after days of heavy rain
forced thousands to evacuate their homes.
A tropical depression has been dumping torrential rain in central and
southern Taiwan since Thursday, with some districts receiving close to 1,000
millimetres (39 inches) of rainfall.
Six have died in the storm so far, according to government figures,
including three who were killed by a falling scaffold in the southern city of
Kaohsiung. Almost 100 more were injured.
More than 6,000 people were evacuated with more than 1,100 still in
shelters on Saturday morning, officials said.
Images showed residents in Kaohsiung and nearby Tainan wading in knee-deep
water, as well as soldiers in central Chiayi county carrying elderly
residents and children from their flooded homes.
Television footage also showed scooters and cars half-submerged in water
and roads blocked by landslides.
Although the depression has already moved northwest away from Taiwan,
floods have yet to recede in many areas.
Taiwan’s weather bureau said the severity of the downpour was “extremely
rare”.
The island is frequently hit by typhoons in the summer. Last year more than
100 people were injured when Typhoon Nesat battered the island, causing
flooding and widespread power outages.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1020 hrs