SUAO, Taiwan: Taiwan evacuated more than 8,300 people ahead of Wednesday’s arrival of a much weakened Typhoon Fung-wong that brought record downpours to the mountainous east coast and unleashed floods that rose neck-high in places.
Businesses and schools were shut in most southern areas of the island, with 51 people injured.
Television images showed severe floods in parts of the largely rural eastern county of Yilan, with waters neck-deep as soldiers mounted rescue efforts for those stranded.
More than 1,000 homes were flooded in the harbor town of Suao which received 648 mm (25 inches) of rain on Tuesday, a record for the month, weather officials said.
“The water came in so quickly,” said fisherman Hung Chun-yi, who spent the night clearing mud from his home, after its first floor was engulfed in waters 60-cm (2-ft) deep.
