Typhoon Ragasa left widespread destruction in eastern Taiwan.

Dramatic footage shows vehicles submerged in thick mud, with some cars piled on top of each other in Hualien County after the powerful storm swept through the region.

Residents were seen returning to damaged homes and buildings to assess the aftermath.

On September 23, aerial rescue crews airlifted stranded residents from their rooftops. A woman and six men had been trapped in their homes when a nearby lake overflowed.

Local media reported that the Mataian landslide dam in the county overflowed at around 2:50 pm local time, sending torrents rushing downstream.

Super Typhoon Ragasa, described as the strongest storm of the year so far, has wreaked havoc across East Asia after tearing through the northern tip of the Philippines and Hong Kong, killing at least 10 people in the Philippines and displacing thousands. Taiwan has also reported 17 fatalities linked to the storm.

It made landfall in the Philippines' remote and poverty-stricken Babuyan Islands at 3 pm local time on Monday, September 22. It arrived as the country continues to grapple with weeks of severe flooding brought on by an unusually intense monsoon season.