TAIPEI, June 4 -- Heavy rain starting Friday morning in Taiwan has resulted in over 57.5 million new Taiwan dollars (1.9 million U.S. dollars) in agricultural and civilian facility losses as of 5 p.m. Sunday, according to Taiwan's agricultural authorities.
Yunlin County suffered the heaviest losses of 24.2 million new Taiwan dollars, or 42 percent of the total, followed by the New Taipei City, Nantou County and Chiayi County, which suffered 13.3 million, 9.6 million and 4.2 million new Taiwan dollars in losses, the authorities said.
Crop damage had led to price hike and a significant decrease in produce trade. The average trade volume of vegetables and fruits in Taipei per day shrunk 320 tonnes to 1,250 tonnes, with the per kilo price surged 34 percent in the meantime.
As of 3 p.m. Sunday, at least 149 schools suffered damage, leading to an estimated loss of 47.3 million new Taiwan dollars, according to statistics from the island's education authority.
Schools in the New Taipei City, one of the worst-hit areas, incurred damage of 20.3 million new Taiwan dollars, the highest among all cities and counties.
The round-the-clock downpour has brought in a precipitation of over 1,500 mm to the city of Kaohsiung over the past two days, destroying roads and civilian houses. Taiwan's labor management department on Sunday announced it would earmark 80 million new Taiwan dollars in home-reconstruction.
Earlier reports said there had been three fatalities and 35 people suffering injuries, but the casualty had been corrected to two deaths and five injuries because the others were victims from a traffic accident in rainy weather. Another two still remained missing.
The island's weather bureau said torrential rain was still expected late Sunday to Monday in most parts of the island.
