Halfway up Taiwan’s central mountain ranges, two young women were working a shift at the town’s service station in August when the landslide hit.

The disaster in Ren’ai township was one of countless landslides in the same month across Nantou, a landlocked county in central Taiwan, triggered by torrential rain brought by the whipping tail of distant typhoon Khanun.

They are sparsely populated, with small towns and villages accessed by winding single-lane roads, where aboriginal tribes are among those making a living mostly through agriculture, and holding on to ancient traditions.

When they hit, their increased strength brings floods and landslides, and hurt local economies by destroying crops and the roads along which produce is transported for sale.

Chen Guo-xiong Che, the major secretary for the township covering Nangfeng, says they are seeking to adapt farming strategies, citing efforts to plant more trees among the monoculture tea and coffee fields.

Dr Lin Tze-luen, a spokesman for the executive branch of Taiwan’s government, tells the Guardian his country has become adept at preparing for and responding to disasters, “but now the challenge is climate change”.

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