TAIPEI, Taiwan —
Typhoon Morakot slammed into the Pacific island home of 23 million people on Saturday, Aug. 8, Taiwan's Father's Day The giant storm brought with it the heaviest rainfall in 50 years.
Taiwan Taichung LDS Mission President Michael Hoer described the more-than two meters (80-100 inches) of rain that fell during the storm as "the amount of precipitation that Utah would see in four years."
The result was devastating flash floods and landslides that buried villages, displaced thousands and brought a death toll that might top 500. On Aug. 19 there were 136 confirmed dead and 386 missing. Many from remote mountain villages are still not accounted for.
As of press time, no LDS Church members were known to have lost their lives, although many had their homes damaged extensively. There was no serious damage to any church buildings and all missionaries are safe.
Dozens of missionaries from the Taichung mission, along with hundreds of members from throughout Taiwan, put on "Mormon Helping Hands" vests and gave several days of service cleaning mud from homes and businesses. The clean-up work will continue for weeks to come.
See the full story on ldschurchnews.com.
This story is provided by the LDS Church News, an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is produced weekly by the Deseret News.