Taiwan says two dead, 30 missing in east of island after typhoon

TAIPEI — Taiwan's fire department said on Tuesday that 30 people were missing and two people had died in the eastern county of Hualien, where a barrier lake in the mountains burst its banks in a typhoon.

Taiwan has since Monday been lashed by the outer rim of Super Typhoon Ragasa, which is now on its way to the southern Chinese coast.

The barrier lake, formed by landslides triggered by earlier heavy rain in the sparsely populated east of Taiwan, burst its banks mid-afternoon on Tuesday, sending a wall of water into Guangfu township.

According to a report from Agence France-Presse, the barrier lake is on the upper Mataian Creek, which burst around 3:00 p.m. (0700 GMT), washing away a bridge as it swept into the town, a local fire official said.

The fire department put the number of missing in Hualien following the flood at 30, with two deaths reported in Guangfu. AFP also reports that more than 260 people are trapped.

"In some places, water temporarily rose as high as the second floor of a house and was about [as high as] one floor in the town centre, where the water has been receding," Lee Lung-sheng, deputy chief of Hualien County Fire Department, told AFP.

"About 263 people were trapped and moved up to higher ground when the river suddenly rose. They are not in immediate danger, but they are very worried about the high water," he said.

The stranded residents were asked to stay put and wait for the water to recede, he added.

Footage released by Taiwan's National Fire Agency showed flooded streets and half-submerged cars as trees were uprooted in the area.

Across Taiwan, more than 7,600 people were evacuated due to Typhoon Ragasa.

Around 3,100 people were evacuated beforehand and moved in with relatives in the area near the creek in Hualien, according to the fire agency.

Taiwan experiences frequent tropical storms from July to October.

Typhoon Danas, which hit the island in early July, killed two people and injured hundreds as the storm dumped more than 20 inches of rain across the south over a weekend. — Reuters/Agence France-Presse