Pomelo farmers in Tainan's Madou are picking fruit as fast as they can during a break in the rain, a stressful stretch for growers facing a possible ruined harvest.

• Days of heavy rain in late August threw off the pomelo harvest, which is at its peak right now.
• The rain stopped Tuesday, so families and friends are pitching in to pull ripe fruit off the trees.
• Typhoon Sadel is getting closer, and more rain in the next day or two would stall picking again.
• The ground is so soaked that trucks can't get into the orchards, so the fruit has to be carried out by hand.

Outlook: Growers will grab whatever they can before the next storm, and a wet stretch could cut into the Madou pomelo crop just ahead of its main selling season.