TAIPEI: As Typhoon Parma veers away from Taiwan, it has left one person dead, caused flooding in 30 areas in Yilan County and forced 6,831 people to be evacuated from their homes as of Monday night, the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) reported yesterday.

A 43-year-old man living in Beinan township in southeastern Taiwan's Taitung County, surnamed Wei, drowned after falling into a flooded river, the center said.

Heavy rains from the typhoon triggered serious flooding in Yilan in northeastern Taiwan, submerging Yilan City and townships including Sansing, Wujie, Dongshan, Jhuangwei, Datong, Toucheng and Luodong in waters ranging between 10-50 centimeters high.

According to the Council of Agriculture (COA), losses in the agricultural sector from Typhoon Parma totaled NT$29.53 million, with Yilan County suffering the heaviest damage.

Torrential rain brought by Typhoon Parma caused NT$11.43 million in damage to farms and local agriculture in Yilan and Hualien counties, while related facilities sustained damage of NT$18.1 million, the COA reported yesterday.

Some 80 percent of the high-end Sanhsing green shallot grown in Yilan was destroyed in the flooding caused by the typhoon, a situation that is expected to push up the price of the crop in retail markets.

Although Typhoon Parma did not make landfall on Taiwan, its outer bands brought as much as 1,500 mm of rainfall to Yilan, causing flooding in some 30 locations and triggering mudslides in several townships.Other areas affected by the storm were Hejhong in Hualien County's Sioulin township, which received 671 mm of rain, and Rueifang town in Taipei County, which recorded rainfall of 444 mm, the center said.

Meanwhile, 74 rivers on the island were given red alerts for flooding, including 56 in Yilan County and 18 in Hualien County.

Another 227 rivers had yellow alerts, indicating that nearby residents should be aware of possible flooding, the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau under the Council of Agriculture (COA) reported yesterday.

In addition, the COA issued landslide red alerts for 109 areas - all in Yilan and Hualien counties, suggesting local governments to "forcibly" evacuate residents to safe places.

Typhoon Parma weakened to a tropical storm after its periphery swept over the southern tip of Taiwan Monday.

Under the joint influence of the storm's outer rim and the northeast monsoon, the weather bureau predicted yesterday that rainfall in Hualien County will increase to 800-1,200 mm in mountainous areas and 500-700 mm in lowland areas.

It warned people in the northeastern and eastern areas of Taiwan to remain on the alert for torrential rains.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 10/07/2009 page2)