Soldiers and rescuers help victims evacuate flooded village Laiji, following Typhoon Morakot, in Jiayi County, central Taiwan Photo: AP

Soldiers and rescuers help victims evacuate flooded village Laiji, following Typhoon Morakot, in Jiayi County, central Taiwan Photo: AP

Taiwan deployed an extra 4,000 troops to bolster its rescue operations after villag

Pressure is growing on the government to step up rescue efforts as residents of mountain villagers grow short of food and water four days after typhoon Morakot created the worst floods for 50 years.

With bridges smashed and roads cut by landslides due to heavy rains over two days, rescuers are relying on helicopters to drop supplies and evacuate the worst affected.

Tempers flared as Taiwan's President, Ma Ying-jeou, found himself jostled by angry survivors on a visit to the flood-affected area of Tainan in the south. "What is the government doing? It's too late, they cannot be saved," said one angry man.

The official death toll in Taiwan now stands at 108, with some 14,000 airlifted to safety, however an unknown number of people are still unaccounted for.

Taiwan estimates the storm has caused £135m in agricultural damage and left tens of thousands of homes without power and water. Phone and internet services were being re-connected, although some repairs to damaged undersea cables could take up to 2 months.

"32 DEAD, SOS," read a sign painted in red on a smashed bridge at the only entrance to the village of Hsinfa, a hot spring resort where bodies were found buried by mudslides.

"We are helpless. We are forgotten. We have been waiting for the helicopters without supplies," one villager told the AFP news agency.

Floodwaters have also created several artificial lakes, further endangering survivors. In the southern township of Toayuan 300 villagers were told to run to higher ground about 30 minutes before a lake burst its banks. Two nearby lakes were expected to burst soon, official said.

More than 320 helicopters have been deployed in the rescue mission, although conditions are treacherous with the saturated and unstable ground making it unsafe to land in many places.

Crews are being forced to use ropes and winches to rescue survivors, slowing up the pace of rescue missions. On Tuesday a rescue helicopter crashed in poor weather, killing all three crew.

In Cishan, the main forward rescue base, patience was running thin among relatives waiting at a makeshift landing strip for days for news of family members.

"How can they be so slow? Clearly they should be sending more helicopters, right?" said Yan Min-rong, 29, as he pored over lists of survivors.

Taiwan has appealed to the international community for specialist heavy-lift helicopters and aircraft capable of delivering cranes and diggers directly onto the mountainsides to speed up operations. Japan, the US and China have also made donations to the rescue effort.

The rescue work has also taken on a political dimension, since the greatest devastation has been caused in the south of the country, a stronghold of opposition parties who have accusing the government of being slow to react.

President Ma swept to power last year promising to kick-start Taiwan's flagging economy, particularly through closer trade ties with China, however tyhpoon Morakot is expected to deepen already-gloomy third quarter growth forecasts.