Death toll from typhoon Xangsane rises to 53 in Taiwan.

TAIPEI, Nov. 2 Kyodo

The death toll from landslides and flooding brought on by typhoon Xangsane rose to 53 in Taiwan on Thursday and 10 people are still missing, the National Fire Administration said.

While searches for the missing continue, flooding that put many town and cities across the island under water Wednesday, cutting electricity and disrupting public transport, continued to recede.

In many places local residents began cleaning up their flooded homes, while Vice President Annette Lu and Interior Minister Chang Po-ya visited bereaved families in the Keelung area, where most of the fatalities occurred.

Flooding from the Keelung River, which is notorious for breaking its banks in heavy rains, killed 14 elderly residents of a basement nursery home in Keelung, a northern port city. They were unable to escape the rapidly rising water levels.

Nearby, 15 followers worshipping at a Taoist temple in the basement of an apartment complex were trapped by flood waters and died. In Taipei, a 15-year-old girl drowned as flood water poured into her basement home.

More than 10 people were buried alive in a landslide in a mountainous area northwest of Taipei, with seven of the victims confirmed dead so far.

Seven more, including a 12-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, died in land and mudslides outside the capital.

In Taipei County, a woman farm worker was swept away by a flash flood and drowned, while four bodies were found floating in Hsichih, which saw the worst flooding in 10 years.

One young man in Changhua County was killed when his car crashed into a tree that had collapsed onto a road. Several more people drowned in separate incidents.

Early Thursday some 150,000 households were still without electricity and more than 100,000 households were without water.

Agricultural damage from the typhoon is estimated to total NT$250 million (US$7.75 million), the cabinet's Council of Agriculture said.

The estimate includes loss of livestock and arable land.

Local media reported that vegetable prices doubled overnight due to expected crop damage.