[Via CNN] (CNN) -- Hundreds of people were stranded on Wednesday in villages dotting Taiwan's mountainous regions after Typhoon Morakot unleashed its fury over the weekend and caused the worst flooding in a half-century.
Morakot dumped 83 inches of rain on parts of the island, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, leaving Taiwan covered in thick blankets of mud.
After hitting Taiwan on Saturday, the storm roared on to mainland China, killing at least six people and displacing 1.4 million, authorities said.
Yet the death toll was much higher in Taiwan, where Morakot was blamed for at least 67 deaths. Figures from the Central Emergency Operation Center said the storm had injured 45 and at least 61 were missing, not including the hundreds trapped in debris.
In northern Taiwan, mud slithered down a mountainside, sweeping up trees and rocks and carrying them into valleys below. In the south, Kaohsiung County was devastated.
A wall of mud inundated and cut off the village of Shiaolin, burying houses. About 10 people there awaited rescue by helicopter. Video Watch what rescuers face in Taiwan »
In Jiahsian village, as many as 100 people were feared buried alive.
Continuing rain had hampered rescue efforts, but the weather showed signs of letting up Wednesday, allowing better access to those in need of help.
Taiwan's Interior Ministry said Wednesday that 200 people were trapped in that county's village of Namahsia and 38 were rescued by helicopter. Among the rescued, 18 were injured. In the village of Maolin, where 200 to 300 people were feared trapped, rescue workers were forced to suspend operations because of bad weather. (Click here to read full article.)
[Via Reuters] KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) – About 700 people from the remote mountains of southern Taiwan were found alive overnight after it was feared they may have been buried by mudslides, officials said.
The survivors from four villages made it to higher ground before walls of mud and rock submerged their homes, said Hu Jui-chou, an army official involved in the rescue effort.
