Bus with 19 tourists from China missing in Taiwan after Megi typhoon

Typhoon Megi brought rain and strong winds to Taiwan as the storm churned its way toward southern China, triggering landslides, cutting power supply and trapping hundreds of travelers.

Almost 1,100 millimeters (43 inches) of rain has fallen in Suao township in Yilan, the National Fire Agency in Taipei said in a statement on its website today. The agency said 2,679 people in the northeastern county have been evacuated.

Megi, which left 19 people dead in the Philippines, has also trapped about 400 people in their vehicles as roads closed, Taiwan's cabinet said in a faxed statement, Bloomberg reports.

Helicopters searched Friday for a missing bus carrying 19 Chinese tourists that was traveling along a Taiwanese highway hit by massive rockslides triggered by a powerful typhoon, the premier said. Nine other people were missing after mudslides buried a temple.

Typhoon Megi, which killed 26 people and wreaked havoc in the northern Philippines earlier this week, dumped a record 45 inches (114 centimeters) of rain in northeastern Taiwan as it made its way toward China's southeastern coast with winds above 100 mph (160 kph), according to The Associated Press.