According to the Central Weather Administration, Typhoon Kong-rey has made landfall in Taiwan
One person was killed when Typhoon Kong-rey, one of the most powerful storms to threaten the island in decades, made landfall.
Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operations Center (CEOC) revealed that a 56-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree while traveling by car in central Nantou County. At least 73 storm-related injuries have been reported across the island.
Officials stated that nearly 100,000 homes have lost power. “The wind and rain intensified after the eye of the typhoon passed,” an official at the fire department disclosed.
Hualian fire department chief, Wang Ming-chung said that there was “very serious” flooding in Hualien County, with rescue and evacuation still under way.
Chang Chun-yao, a forecaster with the island’s Central Weather Administration said that Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind – how far the strongest winds are from its center – measured 320 kilometers (nearly 200 miles) on Wednesday evening, meaning it is the largest storm to hit Taiwan since Typhoon Herb in 1996.
Ahead of the powerful storm, work and schools across Taiwan were suspended.
More than 500 flights, including 300 international journeys, have been canceled, and all ferry services to Taiwan’s outlying islands have been suspended, according to Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration.
High-speed rail services are operating at limited capacity, according to the rail operator, while the Taipei metro said it had suspended services on open-air sections.
Taiwan generally has a strong track record of responding to major typhoons, though remote villages in more mountainous regions can be particularly vulnerable to landslides.
Taiwan’s military has put more than 34,000 soldiers on standby to assist with rescue efforts and over 8,600 people have been evacuated from high-risk areas on Wednesday.
Kong-rey was expected to weaken after hitting land and move across the mountains that run down the centre of the island before exiting over the Taiwan Strait in the evening, Chu Mei-lin from the Central Weather Administration said.
But she warned that the storm would “severely” affect the island all day and into the early hours of Friday.
Heaviest Rainfall Expected Across Eastern Taiwan
The heaviest rainfall is expected across eastern Taiwan.
Taiwan’s weather agency on Thursday issued an “extremely torrential” rainfall warning, its highest level, for parts of Yilan, Hualien, Taichung and Taitung counties along the east coast.
The rest of eastern Taiwan and parts of the island’s north, including Taipei, are under a “torrential” rainfall warning, the second-highest level.
According to the Central Weather Administration, additional rainfall of over a half of meter (20 inches) is still possible across parts of eastern Taiwan, which could lead to flash flooding and landslides.
Scientists claim that warmer oceans from the human-caused climate crisis are leading storms to intensify more rapidly.
It is unusual for a typhoon this big to come so late in the year. Taiwan’s typhoon season, according to its weather agency, generally falls between July and September.
Kong-rey is the third typhoon to make landfall on Taiwan this year after Krathon and Gaemi.
Earlier this month, Typhoon Krathon killed four people as it brought particularly heavy rains to the south of the island.
In recent days, northern parts of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon have been lashed by the outer bands of Kong-rey, known locally as Leon, as authorities ordered evacuations and warned of its impacts after already seeing devastation last week from Tropical Storm Trami, known as Kristine, which killed at least 130 people.
After moving into the northern Taiwan Strait, the storm is forecast to head into the East China Sea and toward Japan.
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