TAIPEI: The Taiwan authorities said it is planning to set up a high-level disaster-prevention office, while more than 6,000 villagers had been evacuated by early yesterday as Typhoon Parma lingered in seas near the island, bringing heavy rains and the risk of deadly mudslides, a rescuer said.

Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou and his administration have been under pressure to do a much better job in disaster prevention as well as relief after Typhoon Morakot claimed over 600 lives, with billions of dollars worth of damages to boot, in August.

The evacuations, some of them forced, were concentrated in south Taiwan, which saw the heaviest losses from Typhoon Morakot in August, as fears mounted that the downpours could cause mountainsides to collapse.

"The evacuees have been relocated in shelters arranged by township offices. They're all safe," said Andrew Cheng, a Taipei-based official with the Disaster and Prevention and Protection Commission.

"The next 24 to 48 hours will be critical. We'll watch closely how much more rain Typhoon Parma will bring in," he told AFP.

Local press reported yesterday that some residents tried to stay on their properties by offering to sign letters of waver, but were rejected categorically by the authorities.

More than 3,000 residents in Pingtung county in south Taiwan and almost 2,000 people in neighboring Kaohsiung county have left their homes, while the rest were evacuated in east Taiwan's Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties.

The weather system packed gusts of up to 126 kilometers (78 miles) per hour, down from 155 kilometers per hour on Sunday.

"While the strength (of Parma) has declined, it is very likely to produce more heavy rains for the island, in particular in the east," said Hsieh Ming-chang, an official with the Central Weather Bureau.

The military sent some 200 soldiers from elite units to help evacuations from remote villages while putting 35,000 others on standby.

China Daily - AFP

(HK Edition 10/06/2009 page2)