Typhoon Megi leaves 11 dead in Taiwan

The death toll from Typhoon Megi rose to 11 on Saturday, as it cut a deadly path into Asia, triggering mudslides and leaving tourists stranded in Taiwan. Rescuers were searching for the missing and providing food to other stranded tourists trapped in the mountainous region of northeastern Taiwan. Megi, which killed at least 11 people in the Philippines, is expected to hit southern China Saturday, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
On the streets of Hong Kong, there were no signs of the typhoon yet. Although it is difficult to predict Megi’s exact track, the public should stay alert and attend to their personal safety. They should stay away from the shoreline, avoid unnecessary outdoor activities and ensure drains are not blocked, acting Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok said. In southern China, strong gales arrived ahead of Megi. Domestic and international flights have been canceled, and ferry services have been suspended in Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan, state-run China Daily said. Officials have issued the highest of four warnings, bracing for possible devastation in coastal areas, Xinhua said.
The warning allows local officials six hours to evacuate residents, close schools and airports, and recall vessels that are considered at risk. The typhoon affected an estimated 258,844 Filipinos, leaving thousands homeless, when it hit the island earlier this week.

Typhoon kills 11 in Taiwan, heads for China

TAIPEI: Hundreds of Taiwanese soldiers searched for a missing bus carrying 19 Chinese tourists Saturday, combing a rugged mountainous area stripped bare by massive mudslides unleashed by Typhoon Megi on its path to southern China.

Landslides caused by the typhoon killed nine people and buried a Buddhist temple in hardest hit Ilan county in Taiwan’s northeast, where a record 45 inches of rain fell over 48 hours.

Two other people drowned in their flooded homes in Ilan, the Central Emergency Operations Center said. A total of 23 people were missing.

Megi earlier killed 26 people and damaged homes and crops in the Philippines.

In pictures: Super typhoon wreaks havoc in Philippines

The storm was expected to come ashore midday Saturday in China’s Fujian province.

Authorities have already evacuated 272,300 people from villages, according to

Taiwan remembers 700 killed on typhoon anniversary

TAIPEI: Taiwan paid tribute on Sunday to more than 700 people killed or missing in Typhoon Morakot a year ago, one of the island”s worst natural disasters.

The typhoon slammed into Taiwan in August 2009, bringing powerful winds and torrential rain that left at least 614 people dead and 75 missing, including an estimated 400 buried in the village of Hsiaolin alone.

Typhoon Morakot dumped a record three metres (120 inches) of rain and some experts have since warned that global warming could trigger another similarly powerful storm in a year or two.

“Last year”s Morakot brought Taiwan the worst flooding in 100 years and caused havoc… the unusual torrential rains were a signal of climate change,” Vice President Vincent Siew said at a ceremony in Taipei.

President Ma Ying-jeou was to attend an evening memorial service in the southern city of Kaohsiung to commemorate the victims from Hsiaolin village.

While the opposition blamed the Ma administration for what they alleged was a slow response to the flooding, Ma has termed the typhoon a “painful lesson” and is now introducing a tough new planning law.

Over the past year, the authorities have built 1,480 new houses accommodating nearly 6,000 people, according to a cabinet statement.

But the homeless — most of them aboriginals — remain unhappy at the government moves. About 500 indigenous villagers staged a rally outside the presidential office Saturday in protest at the resettlement plans.

The government faced a wave of public anger over its handling of the disaster, plunging Ma into his worst political crisis since taking office in 2008.

His approval rating fell plummeted to 16 percent in the aftermath of the typhoon, compared with to an all-time high of 79 percent in the days after his election victory in March 2008.

Operation Underway Against Militants In Wana

WANA: A major military operation against suspected militants is presently underway at and around main road between Wana and Jandola to wipe out the miscreants from the area.
Security forces have also demolished several houses supposedly belong to local militants in the ongoing drive being carried out in the area between two major towns of South Waziristan agency, it was reported.

Forces have also facing stiff resistance by the militants in few remote pocket areas, the channel said.

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Operation Underway Against Militants In Wana was first posted on August 26, 2009 at 11:22 am.

Taiwan’s Foriegn Minister Offer Resign Over Typhoon Blunder

TAIPEI : Taiwan’s foreign minister has offered to resign for turning down overseas aid after Typhoon Morakot struck the island earlier this month, a report said on Wednesday.

Francisco Ou verbally tendered his resignation to President Ma Ying-jeou during a routine briefing on Monday, the local China Times reported, citing unnamed sources. The presidential office declined to comment on the report.

Ou was the fourth senior cabinet official who offered to quit amid public anger over the government’s slow response to the deadly typhoon.

Cabinet Secretary General Hsueh Hsiang-chuan had incurred public wrath after angrily justifying dining with his family at a five-star hotel on August 8, the day Morakot struck, saying it was Father’s Day in Taiwan and “not out of line”.

Defence Minister Chen Chao-min came under fire for deploying too few troops during the initial days of the rescue operation while Ou’s deputy Andrew Hsia has taken the blame for a decision, later overturned, to refuse foreign aid.

Ou and the others remain in their jobs pending an expected cabinet reshuffle next month, the report said.

The government on Tuesday confirmed that 461 people were killed while 192 were missing when the typhoon lashed the island with a record three metres (118 inches) of rain, submerging houses and streets and destroying bridges.

Morakot was the worst-ever typhoon to strike Taiwan, Ma has said, saying the scale of the damage was more severe than a 1959 typhoon that killed 667 people and left around 1,000 missing.

The deadliest natural disaster in the island’s history was a 7.6-magnitude quake that claimed around 2,400 lives in September 1999.

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Taiwan’s Foriegn Minister Offer Resign Over Typhoon Blunder was first posted on August 26, 2009 at 12:09 pm.

Flood Rocked Taiwan, 12 Dead and 52 Missing

TAIPEI: At least 12 people were confirmed dead and 52 others were missing in Taiwan on Monday after Typhoon Morakot caused the island’s worst flooding in half a century, the rescue services said.

The military was also trying to rescue thousands of people cut off by fallen bridges or raging rivers after the typhoon dumped a record 2.5 metres (100 inches) of rain on the island before it headed for the coast of mainland China.

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Flood Rocked Taiwan, 12 Dead and 52 Missing