Taiwan: the strongest typhoon in nearly 30 years, Kong-rey, made landfall on Taiwan’s east coast. It shut down financial markets, canceled hundreds of flights, and reduced rail services.
According to the government, nearly half a million homes lost power as a result of the typhoon.
According to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration, the storm affected the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast county of Taitung. It also brought torrential rain to almost the entire island.
When their truck struck a fallen tree in the center of Taiwan, the fire department reported that one person had died.
At a certain point a super hurricane, Kong-rey somewhat debilitated for the time being nevertheless stayed strong as what might be compared to a Classification 4 typhoon pressing whirlwinds than 250 kilometers each hour (kph), as indicated by Typhoon Chance.
The typhoon was the largest to hit Taiwan since 1996, according to the weather service.
On his Facebook page, President Lai Ching-te wrote, “I hope that everyone in the country will co-operate in avoiding disaster and refraining from engaging in dangerous behavior such as wave watching during the typhoon.”
Gene Huang, a forecaster for the administration, said that after hitting the east coast, the storm would head toward the Taiwan Strait as a much weaker storm. He also told people all over the island to stay inside because of the risk of high winds.
On Thursday, environmental authorities were working to stop an oil leak from a Chinese cargo ship that was stranded against rocks on Taiwan’s northern coast after losing power due to turbulent weather.
Taitung issued warnings for destructive winds of more than 160 kilometers per hour. Before some of the island’s wind barometers went offline, Taitung’s Lanyu island recorded winds of more than 260 kilometers per hour.
Last night was terrifying. Sinan Rapongan, a government official on Lanyu, also known as Orchid Island, told Reuters that “many people on the island didn’t sleep because they were worried about something happening to their house.”
She added that although some roofs had been damaged and over 1,300 homes had lost power, no injuries had been reported as of yet.
Since the typhoon began to approach on Wednesday, parts of eastern Taiwan have seen one meter (3.3 feet) of rain.
The government stated that almost 10,000 people had already been evacuated from high-risk areas and that the defense ministry had placed 36,000 troops on standby to assist with rescue operations.
The largest contract chipmaker in the world and a major supplier to Apple and Nvidia, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., stated that it had initiated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures at all of its factories and construction sites.
In a statement sent via email, it stated, “We do not expect significant impact on our operations.”
According to the transportation ministry of Taiwan, 314 international flights and all domestic flights had been canceled.
Service on Taiwan’s high-speed railway, which connects major cities on its densely populated western plains, remained substantially reduced.
On Friday morning, it is anticipated that Kong-rey will graze China along the coast of Fujian Province. Shanghai, the financial center of China, is getting ready for what could be the worst rains in more than 40 years.
Typhoons frequently hit subtropical Taiwan. Four people were killed in the last one, Typhoon Krathon, earlier this month as it moved through the island’s south.
