The tragedy happened in the morning when a jeep carrying five people was washed away by rising floods of a river in Taimali, a town in southeast of the island, the National Fire Agency (NFA) which coordinates national rescue missions said.

"Three people were rescued, but two were missing," an NFA official said, adding that a search had been launched.

The cabinet set up an emergency task force led by interior minister Yu Cheng-hsien and called on the public to stay away from low-lying areas and places prone to landslides.

Hundreds of fishing boats sought shelter in harbours while the Central Weather Bureau issued a warning against torrential rains and strong winds from the storm.

"Residents in the Hengchun Peninsula, the south and east parts as well as the mountainous areas of the north should heighten their vigilance against torrential rains," an official of the bureau said.

The storm is expected to bear down on the southern part of Taiwan Monday.

With a radius of 150 kilometers (90 miles), the storm was moving north-northwest at a speed of 10 kilometers (6.0 miles) per hour but it was losing momentum as the direction of its movement was veering northwest.

At 4:00 pm (0800 GMT), Storm Melor was 130 kilometers (78 miles) south of Oluanpi, the southernmost tip of the island.

TERRA.WIRE