Hundreds still trapped in Taiwan hamlets

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- A week after Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan, rescue crews had been unable to reach 1,300 people trapped in remote mountain villages, officials said Saturday.

The Central Emergency Operation Center said 75 helicopters would drop supplies in villages in the south, the Central News Agency reported.

Taiwan was the hardest hit of the countries in Morakot's path, and officials have said the death toll had topped 500. In the south, rain-soaked mountainsides gave way, taking houses with them.

The typhoon dumped more than 8 feet of rain on Taiwan as it passed over the island last Saturday.

A total of 1,373 people remained cut off in villages where roads were blocked by mudslides or washed away by flooding.