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莫拉克颱風救災http://www.google.com.tw/intl/zh-TW/landing/morakot/
八八水災即時災情
8月7日登陸的莫拉克颱風挾帶大量豪雨，「八八水災」造成全台人民生命財產極大損失。此救災專區彙整風災水災相關資訊，大家一起多多留意災情及救災資訊，共同協助救援行動。您可以查看最近的新聞以及 YouTube 上的影片。
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救災地圖
1. 莫拉克颱風颱風莫拉克重創臺灣馬英九面臨考驗-兩岸新聞-新浪新聞中心
2009年8月14日 ... 據臺灣中央社消息，截至8月12日下午2時，『莫拉克』颱風共造成台67人 ... 臺灣《中國時報》社論說，這次僅是中度颱風，卻下了3倍雨量，匪夷所思。 ...news.sina.com.tw/article/20090814/2034093.html - 頁庫存檔 - 類似內容
2. 莫拉克颱風專輯- Yahoo!奇摩話題
2009年8月8日 ... 《社論》重建家園大家一起來. 更新日期：2009/08/15. 莫拉克颱風肆虐中南部，災情慘重，造成空前浩劫，到處柔腸寸斷，怵目驚心，災民不時傳出呼救 ...tw.topic.yahoo.com/morakot/article/url/d/.../1p3g7.html - 頁庫存檔 - 類似內容
3. 痛定思痛：朝野同心協助災民重建家園 社論 意見評論 聯合新聞網
【聯合報╱社論】. 2009.08.10 03:53 am. 苦旱多時、渴望颱風帶來降雨紓解旱象的台灣民眾，對莫拉克先前確有寄望；但沒料到莫拉克是個包藏禍心的狠角色，讓中南部慘遭 ...udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI1/5067882.shtml - 類似內容
4. [HI-ON]鯨魚網站-【外電】莫拉克颱風和馬英九的綽號
2009年8月13日 ... 對急如星火的救災行動馬政府竟採〝三不〞政策(08/13, 自由時報社論) ... 莫拉克颱風的侵襲證明了馬英九完全缺乏領導能力的事實。 ... 被颱風侵襲破壞之後，而且一週以後還沒有實現政府該有的應對，馬英九已訴諸於指責別人的把戲了。 ...www.hi-on.org.tw/bulletins.jsp?b_ID=92775 - 頁庫存檔 - 類似內容
5. 莫拉克颱風暴雨不斷！ 東京大淹水 台灣環境資訊協會-環境資訊中心
2009年8月9日 ... 台灣飽受水患肆虐，臨近的日本，也因為莫拉克颱風的外圍環流逼近，出現狂風暴雨，讓人難以想像的是，就連排水系統完善的日本首都東京，竟然也驚傳大淹 ...e-info.org.tw/node/45906 - 頁庫存檔 - 類似內容
莫拉克颱風影響台東海岸現漂流木災情 台灣環境資訊協會-環境資訊中心
2009年8月12日 ... 莫拉克颱風來襲，南台東災情慘重，知本以北雖無立即災情，然而台東市北邊大港──富岡漁港已塞滿50年來最大量的漂流木，漁業和船運業皆已癱瘓，預計最 ...e-info.org.tw/node/45980 - 類似內容
7. 莫拉克-MSN綜合搜尋
2009年8月13日 ... 願台灣人民共同攜手渡過莫拉克颱風的苦難，8/30號桃園募款晚會, 免費入場 ... 由於受到地形影響，加上導引氣流依然不太明顯，莫拉克颱風在未來24 ...isearch.msn.com.tw/Default.aspx?q=莫拉克 - 頁庫存檔 - 類似內容
8. 中央日報網路報-海峽視點
泰國世界日報社論----莫拉克颱風再次為台灣帶來警訊. http://www.cdnews.com.tw 2009-08-11 08:42:02. 泰國世界日報11日社論:台灣正遭逢50年來最大水災。中颱莫拉克 ...www.cdnews.com.tw/cdnews_site/docDetail.jsp?... - 頁庫存檔 - 類似內容
9. 莫拉克颱風造成浙江逾百萬人受災 苦勞網
2009年8月9日 ... 中國大陸浙江省防汛抗旱指揮部表示，截至今天下午3時，受莫拉克颱風 ... 浙江省氣象台今天下午4時再次發佈緊急警報指出，莫拉克颱風今天下午4時20分在 ...www.coolloud.org.tw/node/44303 - 頁庫存檔 - 類似內容
10. [轉載]2009.08.07 莫拉克颱風災情回報網與相關資訊(TBA/Billypan) 台灣 ...
[轉載]2009.08.07 莫拉克颱風災情回報網與相關資訊(TBA/Billypan). 0 回應 轉寄文章 2009-08-09 返回列表 無所不出差錯的執政團隊（自由社論） ...www.shadowgov.tw/24069_0_is.htm - 頁庫存檔 - 類似內容
贊助商連結
1. 莫拉克風災即時災情
www.google.com.tw/sos 即時更新水災新聞、影片、災區地圖 以及捐款管道和官方資訊。
2. 博客來》你買我捐 投入救災
www.books.com.tw 博客來將捐出8/11-8/31期間部分營業 額,投入救災,幫助災民重建家園
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陳文茜：最無情的災難 上天想向世人說什麼？
(2009/08/15 21:21)
政治中心／綜合報導 八八水災讓小林村確定滅村。直升機救災大隊隊員向已殉職的兄弟們脫帽致敬後，含淚冒生命危險繼續救災。 資深媒體人陳文茜15日在蘋果日報撰文說，日本媒體以兩百年日據水文資料報導，這是「兩百年台灣最大災害」；氣象局統計光是阿里山8月7日至8月10日即降雨約2700公釐；以此計算我們所經歷的這場災難，降雨量為50年前「八七水災」的兩倍半之多（八七水災雨量約為800到1200公釐）；災難不只是颱風，而是西南氣流引來的雨災、山崩、山洪暴發、土石流、惡水改道……；與颱風的中度、強度並無直接關連。 2009年8月8日起，許多人的人生，從此改變了；許多人的家園，從此永埋回憶；許多人的生命，戛然終止。荖濃溪昔日孕育了無數的生命，潰堤後的荖濃溪卻像追命的殺手，滾滾濁流追得百姓四竄逃亡。 斷斷續續哭了數天，我走上北部一座山頂，望著山上的雲，白鳥正從眼前飛翔越過，農夫們忙著復耕花圃田園。如果雨下於台北近郊任何一個山頭，這些苦難的承受者正是我及眼前的村莊。我相信崇敬的上天，於是抬頭問蒼天：「想告訴世人什麼？」上帝以最無情的災難，想讓我們學習什麼？ 2005 年8月底美國發生卡特里娜颶風，死亡1833人，財產損失812億美元。驕傲的帝國有若長期CNN報導的非洲第三世界，只是鏡頭出現的是美國總統布希、路易斯安那州州長，開口怒罵政府甚至滿街燒殺擄掠，所有「暴民們」都是美國公民。那一場風災使美國前副總統戈爾痛下決心，拍攝《不願面對的真相》紀錄片，高呼正視“全球暖化”。 2009年8月8日大雨雖已無情的傾落南部山中，總統初始會報只責怪當時氣象局預報不準與水利署治水無效。就在這場卸責會議後不到數小時，小林滅村，金帥屋倒，荖濃溪潰堤。上天無情的步伐，摧毀數百萬人的家園，雨一直落，落到周美青勘災時，一位災民竟求她祈天，「請祂高抬貴手，不要再下雨了。」我們的反省，抵不上上天落雨的速度。 可能直到八八水災一周後，我們才明白災難的幅度與傷害程度，遠遠萬倍超過眾人的預期。坐在山頂的某一個凹處，我眺望腳下蜿蜒河流，台北，川流車行住藏百萬戶人家。大地，是多少人的寄託！它平時無言，憤怒時摧毀力量卻這麼龐大！多少人的一生，就寄存於大地的容忍，肆情地築夢一切，並視之為當然。我從來沒有覺得自己和上天這麼接近，在搖籃曲中、在原住民的歌謠裡，我們聽過許多大地的故事；從未想到有一天容忍的大地，會醒來、會憤怒、會抗議。 你我都是這場風災僥倖的存活者；如果災難發生於我們居住鄰近地點的山脈，滅村逃亡或家園全毀的，就是倖存的我們。受難的人，只是代我們受過；上天留下我們，要生存者善待大地，並做些什麼。 災後第八天，救難英雄們仍前仆後繼。讓我們為他們祈福、加油，並以最誠摯的感念向他們許諾，台灣將實踐一場土地保育的行動計劃。他們的犧牲、冒險犯難，換來的不會是空白。
八八水災國軍救災
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要命的水要命的水http://www.cw.com.tw/article/index.jsp?id=38609
作者：蕭富元 出處：天下雜誌 428期 2009/08
相關關鍵字：要命的水/水足跡
一個從東邊來的中度颱風，讓台灣在二十四小時內，從七年來最嚴重的乾旱危機，掉進另外一個五十年來最嚴重的水患危機。
專輯精采重點：
．【互動討論區】莫拉克颱風，八八水患重創台灣－你還能做什麼？．【深入災區】天下記者現場直擊颱風災區．【貢獻力量】颱風重創，愛心捐款帳戶
一個從東邊來的中度颱風，讓台灣在二十四小時內，從七年來最嚴重的乾旱危機，掉進另外一個五十年來最嚴重的水患危機。
台南麻豆、學甲，嘉義民雄、水上，高雄甲仙、桃源，屏東林邊、佳冬，台東知本、太麻里等數十個南台灣鄉鎮，二六％的國土淹水，宛如漫漫汪洋中載浮載沉的星星孤舟。
莫拉克颱風侵襲三天，屏東山區累計雨量超過兩千五百毫米，幾乎把台灣一年的雨都下光了。全台共有十四個測雨站單日雨量突破一千毫米。史上前十大降雨排行榜裡，莫拉克就「霸佔」了九個。
蓄水率瀕臨下限的石門水庫（三一％）和曾文水庫（二五％）都開始洩洪。行政院原本要召開的第六次抗旱會議，已無人關心，部會首長急著南下搶救水災。
孤處在新營市中心的台南縣政府，四周淹大水，縣長蘇煥智被困在救災指揮中心裡，心情焦急。他剛剛得知，哥哥在七股經營的養雞場淹沒，一萬多隻雞全部溺斃。
這是台灣最大的反諷，天災（乾旱）要靠天災（水患）來解除。這次淹大水的南台灣，正好是台灣最乾旱的區域。可是豪雨下個幾天，灌飽水庫，未來兩、三個月如果持續高溫炎熱，也沒有颱風報到，到了明年初，台灣又將拉起乾旱警報。
莫拉克登陸之前三天，中研院環境變遷研究中心主任劉紹臣，在接受《天下》採訪時，就預言這個颱風的雨一定「非常大」。台灣的氣候變遷太極端，加上今年海水溫度升溫，颱風吸納更多水汽，下起雨來將十分驚人。
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朋友傳來咱們老友輔大柏殿宏神父(Fr. Budenholzer)的轉載------I thought you would like to know!--- On Sat, 8/15/09, dr chiang chiahsing
From: dr chiang chiahsing
Subject: FW: The first hand report from Taiwan
A forward email from Farther Budenholzer at Fu-Jen University about Typhoon Morakot. God bless all the relief workers!
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Taiwan ! Thanks to all of you for helping to make a wonderful retreat and alumni workshop.
Since arriving in Taiwan on Wednesday evening, I have been at least partially occupied with trying to get a picture of the situation of our SVD priests and brothers in Chiayi. We have several parishes in the high mountains of Chiayi County , Alishan. All of the SVDs are safe, though many are still cut off without electricity.
I attach to this e-mail two "stories" written by Fr. Brian Lawless, SVD who is at our main house in Chiayi city. The story of our gardener, Mr. Deng, who died as his home was swept away, while his brother watched helplessly in the car only a few meters away, maybe represents the human cost of typhoon Morakat.
Below I also reproduce an e-mail that Fr. Lawless sent me today. It is less polished than the stories, but conveys the magnitude of the difficulties.
In these few lines my concern is with the high mountains of Alishan County where the SVD work. Pingtung and Kaohsiung counties seemed to have been even worse affected with greater loss of life.
We pray for those who have lost so much in the devastation.
Frank Budenholzer, SVD
***********************
Hello Frank,The relief effort is getting into full swing here is Chiayi.1. Chiayi Diocese has set up one centre to receive donations of money and goods. Along with St. Martin 's hospital, they will be sending a convoy to the mountains.2. Fujen High School is also organizing a relief convoy. They will send the relief goods by road to Lung Mei. From there, they will be carried down to Shanmei by volunteers. As of this moment they say they have enough volunteers.3. Xinmei is still cut off and to date they have not managed to rig a cable to send goods across by cage. Piotr says he himself has sufficient food at the moment, but what most people there need is food, gas and gasoline. Helicopters have been able to land in Xinmei primary school and deliver reflief goods there. One death has been reported from there, due to illness.4. Helicopters have been able to land at Dabang primary school to deliver relief supplies and to ferry people out. Students arriving down are being housed in the Dormitories in Fujen High school . Some of them have reported that the devestation in the area is very extensive.5. According to reports from Fenchihu, a road should be opened soon via Guanghua.6. Lijia village has been extensively damaged. The church there was also destroyed. 7. Reports from Laiji say that the church there was severly damaged by rockfalls and is unusable.8. The funeral of Mr Deng and his mother has been arranged for 22nd August. The SVD will contribute 100,000 to cover the cost of the ossuaries in the Catholic Cemetry (about 75,000 plus flowers for the chuch etc)9. The Chiayi SVD is in close touch with people in most of the villages effected. The current relief operations by the Government, Chiayi Diocese and the Catholic Schools are probably sufficient for the moment. There is no shortage of volunteers. The real need will come later when reconstruction begins. According to Lin Ruo Wang, the most important thing is to find out what the real needs are before sending in too much of the wrong thing.10. Finally, Piotr has been doing visitations every day.
Typhoon Morakot – Tragedy Close to Home
Tomorrow it will be one week since Typhoon Morakat hit Taiwan bringing to the southern
half of the country a deluge of rain the likes of which has not seen since the time of Noah. Every
year we have five or six typhoons and this one was not expected to be any different. Just how
different it was to be is still not fully known. Each day brings fresh reports as rescuers slowly battle
their way through landslides and across raging torrents to reach isolated villages in the mountain
areas. For many places, the only possible access is by helicopter, but they cannot fly in rainstorms,
clouds and fog. They have to wait for the weather to clear before beginning operations.
As the news unfolded during the next few days, stories of tragedy began to emerge. First
there were cars swept away in swollen rivers as roads caved in and bridges collapses. Then news of
vast areas on the plains being flooded waist high with people moving to their rooftops or second
floor level. Next came reports of entire villages being swept away in mudslides, but no one knew
for sure. And then there was the awful silence from places that could not be contacted in any way.
People grew angry and frustrated as their pleas for help in contacting missing relatives went
unanswered by emergency services. In many cases, the only answer to such a ferocious onslaught
by the forces of nature was a helpless shrug of the shoulders.
Here in the Divine Word Mission House in Chiayi Morakot also began as just another
typhoon. The closest we were to a crisis was when the drains on the flat roof were blocked by
leaves and the water began to leak through in two or three places. Apart from a few soggy ceiling
tiles, we were unscathed. We had been in touch with the mission stations in the Alishan Mountain
area. The priests and sisters were all safe, but without electricity. They expected to be marooned for
a few days by landslides, but that is normal in a normal typhoon.
On Monday morning the typhoon had finally moved on to wreak its havoc in China. The
grounds surrounding the mission house were strewn with boughs and branches torn from the soft-
timbered trees during the worst of the winds. I expected the gardener would be in during the day to
begin the cleanup but it was not to be. News came that there had been a landslide in the mountain
area where he lived and that rescuers were digging for survivors. Bit by bit the news filtered
through that both he and his elderly mother had been in the house when it was swept away and
covered in a mudslide. By mid afternoon a body had been found and from then on we expected the
worst.
On Tuesday morning we accompanied some family members to the mortuary where the
body was identified as Mr. Deng. While we were there, news came that the body of the mother had
been found and was being brought in. It was a harrowing experience for us who knew him as our
gardener. For his brother and sisters it must have been unbelievably traumatic, first to watch during
the search, and then to identify a brother and a mother, the life crushed out of them by the land to
which they were so attached.
They lived on the side of a mountain, quite a steep place and planted with betel nut palms
which have very shallow roots that do not help to hold the soil together. It was a dangerous location
at the best of times. According to his younger brother who also lived there, in the early hours of the
morning they heard the sound of the landslide as it began. Both ran out of the house too see what
was happening. The elder brother drove his van close to the house and went back in to bring out his
mother while the younger brother stayed at a safer distance. Then, in one or two seconds, the
hillside above the house began to slide and the house was swept down the slope in a torrent of mud,
stones and roots. When the movement stopped, only the top of roof was visible. Emergency
services arrived at first light but the ground was still very unstable. Mr. Deng's dog stayed at one
spot, reluctant to move and they began digging there. That was where they found the body some
hours later.
We will miss Mr. Deng. He was one of nature's true gentlemen. Though not a baptized
Catholic, he leaned so much towards the church that he was almost inside. His brothers and sisters,
though Buddhist, suggested that a Catholic burial service would be most appropriate for him and his
mother.
May they rest in Peace
Typhoon Morakot – Once in Two Hundred Years
Here in Chiayi we are only about 50km by road from the Alishan mountain villages of
Xinmei, Fenchihu and Tefuyeh respectively, depending on which fork you take off the Alishan
Highway, but we might as well be 5,000km away because there is no longer any road thanks to the
ferocious rain brought to Southern Taiwan by Typhoon Morakot.
On average in Taiwan, we expect six or seven typhoons each year. They usually pass over in
a day or two days at most, then life returns to normal after another day or two of cleanup. They say
that the infrastructure - bridges, embankments, drains and so on - are built to withstand a once in
fifty year storm. Nothing was built with the likes Morakot in mind. It was a deceitful typhoon. The
tight doughnut circle of dense cloud around a well defined eye was missing in this case. In fact, it
was hard to see where the eye actually was. There was no symmetry. The spirals of clouds were all
to one side and covering an area much bigger than usually seen. It hardly looked like a typhoon at
all. Many indeed were deceived.
In Chiayi, the streets were relatively quiet but not empty. Cars and motorcycles, even an
occasional hardy cyclist were seen passing our front gate. The shops were open, hoping for a little
business at least. Yet, just 50km away, in our mountain mission stations, the rain was coming down
at an alarming rate. But that is to be expected in a typhoon, as well as a few landslides at the usual
blackspots. Fr. Wlad Madeja in Fenchihu, along with SSpS Sisters Clemens and Edmara were
expecting 200 guests at the activity centre. The activity had been cancelled, but the freezers had
been stocked with food for 200 mouths. If the electricity should fail, then all the food would quickly
spoil. Of course the electricity failed, then the telephones. Next the mobile phones exhausted their
batteries and the relay stations went off the air as their emergency batteries lost power. The last
message from Fr. Wlad was that he would be down in Chiayi Tuesday. They did not know at that
moment that all roads in and out of Fenchihu had been closed, and in many places, the road had
disappeared completely.
In spite of the approaching typhoon and against all advice from wiser people, a Canadian
tourist who had been staying in Fenchihu proceeded further up the mountain to our Alishan Mission
Station and activity centre. The Director of the centre, Mr. Liu Wei-je had sent his wife and child
down to Chiayi a few days earlier, but stayed on in case some guests still showed up. He planned to
take the last bus down before the typhoon struck. Unfortunately, the Canadian tourist showed up
and insisted on staying. There was the added worry that the new roof which was in the process of
being installed would be blown away in the strong winds of the typhoon. The roof stayed put and so
did they, with no electricity, water and very little by way of food. By the end of the third day,
Alishan had accumulated a total precipitation of 2,700mm and Fenchihu and the other stations were
not too far behind.
That is an incredible amount of water to hit the ground. Of course, from a height 2,300
meters up in the mountains, there is only one way for water to go and that is down. Down it went,
gathering momentum, taking trees, boulders, clay, roads, bridges, electricity and telephone pylons
and anything that stood it its path with it.
By the end of the third day news was being relayed out. Fr. Daisuke was marooned in
Tefuyeh. No roads from that village were passable. The bridges had been swept away. When we
eventually got in touch with him, the unflappable Fr. Daisuke reported that he was fine. No
problem! Things were not so fine in his outstations. Churches in the villages of Lijia and Laichi
were destroyed by rockfalls, though so far there are no reports of loss of life. However, one of the
workers in Fenchihu heard that her village further south in Pingdong had been buried in a mudslide
and there was no word of her father, sister and brother in law.
In the village of Xinmei, Fr. Piotr was likewise marooned with his flock. All were safe, but
key bridges on the road out of the valley had been swept away and they were hemmed in on both
sides by raging torrents of water pouring down from the higher reaches of the mountains. They
would be staying put for a few more days by the looks of things.
Further south in Pindong and Taidong in the east, the emerging news reports showed a much
more terrifying picture. Much of the plain was under a metre or more of water. Villages further up
the watercourses were unreachable, but as aerial photographs became possible when the weather
cleared a bit, only mud and rubble could be seen when entire villages had once stood. In one case a
river that had previously been only 10 metres wide swelled to 800 metres wide. Tree trunks and
boulders, hurtled along at high speed by the waters, crashed into bridge pillars and demolished
them, swept around corners and gouged new channels where there were none before, in one case
toppling a nine-story hotel into the torrent.
Villagers came out as far as they could and rescuers went is as far as they could, eventually
facing each other on either side of a raging river coursing down from the higher slopes.
Communication was impossible because of the noise of the water. In some cases they wrote
message of sheets of cardboard giving the number of survivors and casualties. In one such
encounter, villagers resorted to bows and arrows to shoot messages across the chasm. Rescue
workers eventually were able to set up cable connections and badly needed supplies were sent
across in baskets. Indeed, many of the rescuers were putting their own lives at risk as they
shimmied across swollen rivers on tethered ropes. Sadly, one rescue helicopter crashed in the
mountains with the loss of three lives.
There is still no final count on the death toll from typhoon Morakot. Many people are
missing or unaccounted for. It will take some time for the sad tally to be finalized.
Meanwhile, in the Alishan Mountain Mission, army helicopters have been ferrying supplies
in and taking people out. Frt. John Lin has been busy today collecting the aborigine students from
the airport and bringing them back to Fu Jen High School where they will be housed in the
Dormitories until the new school year begins in September. There is plenty of space in the school
dormitories for any who have lost there homes and need somewhere to stay until replacements are
found. The school staff and students have been accepting donations of relief goods. Some teachers,
parents and students will attempt to trek in to Shanmei village next Saturday carrying food supplies
for the families of students.
Fr. Anthony Pham has been helping the Chiayi Diocese Relief effort. Many people have
contributed generously though in some cases, the goods donated are not what is really needed.
According to Fr. Piotr, marooned in Xinmei, what they really need is food, gas for cooking and
gasoline to power their generators.
Tomorrow it will be one week since the typhoon struck. The relief and rescue efforts are
settling into a more organized and efficient pattern. The President and leading politicians have all
visited the worst effected areas. Now we seem to moving towards the blame stage. Many criticisms
have been raised concerning the lack of warnings as to the seriousness of the typhoon. Police and
emergency services were slow to respond. The North/South political divide had been exasperated.
Shoddy workmanship and incompetent supervision have been blamed for the poor quality of the
infrastructure. The West coast is connected from North to South by a high speed bullet train. The
East coast below Taidong is now connected from North to South by a single cable with cage slung
beneath it.
The reality is the Nature will not be tamed. Taiwan is still very much a landmass under
construction. For aeons, the mountains have been pushing upwards from the tectonic interface deep
below, then eroding downwards to the ocean again by the action of wind, water and the occasional
earthquake. That is not going to change for the foreseeable future. The yellow diggers at work
clearing the mud and rubble from the Alishan highway are but a minuscule blip on this cosmic
calendar. Already, one lane is open to traffic. The road should be back to full service in two months.
The sun will shine again. Houses and lives will be patched up and life will take up again where it
left off. The next time a typhoon warning is given, we will all be sure to stock up with food and
fuel. A few mild typhoons and we will all forget again. Once again, a time will come and we will be
caught unprepared by another deceitful typhoon. That is how it is. That is the nature of things.
陸上行舟 http://changturtle.blogspot.com/2009/08/typhoon-morakot-taiwan.html
Morakot: Taiwan's Worst Flood in 50 Years, Record Rainfall
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by swu August 8, 2009 at 11:30 pm
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Typhoon Morakot caused severe damage to the southern part of Taiwan with record breaking rainfall of 2,900 millimeters (114 inches) in 3 days. The highest single day regional regional record was broken on August 8th, at 1403 millimeters (55 inches). To put it in perspective, Vancouver's average annual rainfall is only 1117 mm (44 inches). Some bulidings were flooded up to the second floor, many counties isolated. Military personels have been deployed to help with the rescuing and reconstruction efforts. In Taitung County, segments of freeway and railway were washed away, 20 houses were washed into the sea, and a major hotel collapsed.
More than 150,168 people remain without power, and 28,282 households have had their phone lines cut, according to the latest statement from the National Fire Agency. Electricity was restored in some areas after disruptions that affected 1.4 million people, according to the statement. The storm caused an estimated NT$754.8 million ($23 million) in damage to crops, the agency said.
Source: bloomberg.com
A Taiwanese blogger Billy Pan created a public Google map documenting the affected areas. The latest development is constantly updated on a website, Twitter, and Plurk. The sources are in Chinese, but the Google map is a visual representation of how serious a damage typhoon Morakot had caused. Typhoons hit Taiwan frequently every summer. People are usually well prepared. Morakot is certainly one of a kind with massive rainfall. The last major floor ocurred on August 7th, 1959, caused more than a thousand dead or missing, 20 thousand house collapsed. The damage totalled 11% of GDP back then. Today, even with much better building standard and diaster preparation, Morakot still created major disruption to the whole country.
http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/morakot-taiwans-worst-flood-50-years-record-rainfall
http://maps.google.com.tw/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=zh-TW&msa=0&msid=116386460682638203042.000470a33fd5b4fcc5768&ll=23.110049,120.684814&spn=4.278449,8.366089&z=8&brcurrent=3,0x3471e089bb4338c9:0xfdddeea4a2da6d2d&iwloc=000470a383e25bfc5758b
