Typhoon Meranti, which battered southern Taiwan on Wednesday 14 September, has caused an estimated loss of NT$593.41 million (US$18.7 million) for the agriculture industry, the Council of Agriculture (COA) reported late Thursday.
The impact of the typhoon on the island was at its worst on Wednesday, leaving 1 person dead and an additional 51 injured, and forcing schools and government offices in several cities and counties in southern Taiwan, to close as the storm moved through the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan.
As for the agricultural losses, the council said, Kaohsiung, the second-largest city in Taiwan, bore the brunt, with losses hitting NT$460.14 million, accounting for 78 percent of the total, the COA statistics show.
Pingtung came in second, with losses totaling NT$78.92 million, making up 13 percent of the total, ahead of Taitung with NT$20.65 million (3 percent) and Tainan with NT$10.99 (2 percent). Outlying Kinmen was hit with estimated losses of NT$10 million in agricultural losses, about 2 percent of the total, COA said.
According to the council, crop losses island-wide totaled NT$530.54 million, with the remaining losses mainly coming from damaged agricultural facilities, at NT$44.46 million.
In terms of individual agricultural items, guava growers suffered the heaviest losses, with 1,590 hectares damaged, at a cost of NT$245.67 million, COA data show. Growers of dates, banana, wax apple (jambu), tomatoes and sorghum also suffered heavy losses, the statistics indicate.
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) had lifted land and sea warnings on Typhoon Meranti by Thursday as the storm was moving away from Taiwan to make landfall in China's Fujian Province.
Despite the lifting of the warnings, another typhoon -- Malakas -- is forecast to travel north off Taiwan's eastern coast and to affect the island on Saturday.
(1 New Taiwan Dollar=0.032 USD)
