Heavy rains leave 4 dead, 74 injured, 3 missing in Taiwan

TAIPEI -- Continuous heavy rainfall over the past week has severely impacted several areas in central and southern Taiwan, leaving four dead, 74 injured, and three missing as of Sunday evening, according to the island's fire department.

On Sunday, a total of 108 monitoring stations across Taiwan recorded a daily precipitation of over 200 millimeters. A site in Kaohsiung reported a weekly cumulative rainfall of 2,759 millimeters, surpassing the island's annual average volume of 2,500 millimeters.

The island's emergency operations center said on Sunday that 5,795 people have been evacuated so far, and a total of 140 instances of road and tunnel closures and 124 cases of falling rocks have been reported. Power outages have affected hundreds of households, while multiple regions have issued red alerts for landslides.

The meteorological department has forecast that heavy downpours may continue in the central and southern parts of the island on Monday. In response, work and classes have been suspended in multiple cities, including Kaohsiung, Tainan and Pingtung.