Taiwan evacuated more than 8,300 people ahead of the arrival on Wednesday of a greatly weakened Typhoon Fung-wong that brought heavy downpours to the mountainous east coast and unleashed neck-deep flooding in some places.
Businesses and schools were closed in most southern areas of the island and 51 people were injured.
Television images showed severe flooding in parts of the largely rural eastern county of Yilan, with water up to their necks as soldiers carried out rescue efforts for the stranded.
“The water came in very quickly,” said fisherman Hung Chun-yi, who spent the night cleaning mud from his house in the eastern port city of Suao after his first floor was submerged in 60cm (2ft) deep water.
“It rained so much and so fast that the drainage couldn’t handle it.”
The fire department said about 8,300 people were moved from their homes to safer areas, mainly in Yilan and nearby Hualien, where a northern monsoon increased rainfall with the typhoon unusually late.
The city of Dongshan in Yilan received 794 mm (31 inches) of rain on Tuesday, weather officials said.
Fung-wong is forecast to skim the southern tip of Taiwan later on Wednesday before heading toward the Pacific Ocean. He lost a considerable force after passing through the Philippines and killing 18 people.
In September, a typhoon unleashed flooding that killed 18 people in Hualien.
