Typhoon Sinlaku Kills 2 In Taiwan, Heads To Japan
Sunday, September 14th, 2008
TAIPEI, Taiwan - Raging floods and rivers swollen by Typhoon Sinlaku killed at least two people and left a further seven missing and presumed dead in central Taiwan, authorities said Monday as the storm barreled toward Japan.
Soldiers and rescuers in Taichung County searched for five people who remained missing after a section of a 2,000-foot-long bridge over the Tachia River collapsed on Sunday night.
CTI Cable News reported rescue workers as saying three cars plunged into the furious river after the water rose too high and washed part of the bridge away. Police recovered one body, identified as a 32-year-old engineer, the report said.
Pillars supporting the bridge gave way under pressure from the raging waters, the Apple Daily quoted highway official Chen Chin-yuan as saying.
The accident occurred just as highway maintenance workers were about to close the bridge to traffic, Transport Minister Mao Chih-kuo said Monday as he inspected the bridge.
Elsewhere in central Taiwan, a driver was killed when his car skidded in heavy rain and crashed into a road railing, and a utility company electrician and a farmer were washed away by rampaging flood waters, the Disaster Relief Center said.
Sinlaku slammed into the northeast coast of Taiwan on Sunday, bringing torrential rain and strong winds to the North Asian island. Mountainous regions recorded more than 40 inches of rain, and several large rivers overflowed their banks, forcing authorities to evacuate hundreds of people, the disaster center said.
Sinlaku was centered at sea 86 miles north of Keelung on the northern tip of Taiwan, moving northeast at a speed of 4 miles per hour as of 8.00 am local time (2000 EST Sunday), the Central Weather Bureau reported.
The bureau said Sinlaku would likely make landfall in southern Japan by Wednesday, and that it could be downgraded from typhoon status.
Source — Yahoo!