A tropical depression dumped huge rain on southern Taiwan, wrecking fruit and vegetable crops in Pingtung — bad news for farmers already hit by earlier summer storms.

• Storm TD24 stopped just short of becoming a typhoon but still dropped over 1,000 mm of rain on southern Taiwan in a few days — close to half a normal year's rainfall.
• Papaya and bitter melon in Pingtung took the worst damage, with fruit rotting and falling; losses run from 20–30% up to over 80%, and some orchards lost everything.
• Nanzhou township, Taiwan's main source of both crops and of improved-variety wax apples, is the hardest hit area.
• Early wax apples are just flowering, and wind scratches on the young fruit could invite bacteria — farmers fear damage that shows up only later, after the money is spent.
• Premier Cho Jung-tai will travel to Pingtung to survey the damage, going ahead with the trip despite recent budget cuts.

Outlook: Relief and compensation claims will follow, and the real scale of the loss may not be clear until the wax apple crop matures.