Taiwan is shut down due to strong typhoon Kong-rey, one dead - News

A car seen under an uprooted tree in New Taipei City as Super Typhoon Kong-rey approached the coast in Taitung. AFP

A strong Typhoon Kong-rey made landfall on Taiwan’s east coast on Thursday, the largest storm in terms of size to hit the island in almost three decades. This has closed financial markets, canceled hundreds of flights and reduced rail services.

The typhoon knocked out power to nearly half a million households, the government said.

According to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration, the storm hit the mountainous and sparsely populated province of Taitung on the east coast, with high winds and heavy rain affecting almost the entire island.

Fire officials said one person was killed when their truck hit a fallen tree in central Taiwan.

A man (R) helps a motorist with a scooter amid heavy rain due to Super Typhoon Kong-rey in Keelung on Wednesday. AFP

At one point, a super typhoon, Kong-rey, weakened slightly overnight but remained strong as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane with winds exceeding 155 miles per hour, according to Tropical Storm Risk.

Taiwan’s Weather Administration estimates the size of the typhoon to be the largest to hit the island since 1996.

“I hope everyone in the country will work together to prevent disasters and refrain from dangerous behavior such as wave watching during the typhoon,” President Lai Ching-te wrote on his Facebook page.

Banqiao Cihui Palace arch that collapsed in Banqiao District, New Taipei City, on Wednesday due to strong winds from Super Typhoon Kong-rey. AFP

Government forecaster Gene Huang said the storm would head towards the Taiwan Strait after heading off the east coast as a greatly weakened storm and urged people across the island to stay home due to the danger of strong winds.

Environmental officials worked Thursday to prevent oil from leaking from a Chinese cargo ship that ran aground against rocks on Taiwan’s northern coast after losing power due to turbulent weather.

Warnings were issued of destructive winds of more than 160 km/h in Taitung, where gusts of more than 260 km/h were recorded on the remote island of Lanyu before some of the wind barometers there went offline.

“It was terrifying last night. Many people on the island did not sleep because they were worried that something would happen to their house,” Sinan Rapongan, a government official on Lanyu, also known as Orchid Island, told Reuters.

Some roofs were damaged and more than 1,300 homes lost power, but no injuries have been reported so far, she added.

Parts of eastern Taiwan recorded one meter of rainfall since the typhoon began approaching on Wednesday.

The Defense Ministry has put 36,000 troops on standby to help with rescue efforts, while nearly 10,000 people have been evacuated in advance from high-risk areas, the government said.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and key supplier to companies including Apple and Nvidia, said it has activated routine typhoon warning preparedness procedures at all its factories and construction sites.

“We do not expect any significant impact on our operations,” it said in an emailed statement.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Transport said 314 international flights had been cancelled, along with all domestic flights.

Taiwan’s high-speed rail line, which connects major cities on the populated western plains, continued to operate at greatly reduced service.

Kong-rey is expected to graze China along the coast of Fujian province on Friday morning. The Chinese financial center of Shanghai is preparing for possibly the worst rainfall in more than forty years.

Subtropical Taiwan is regularly hit by typhoons. The latest, Typhoon Krathon, killed four people earlier this month as it passed through the south of the island.