Taiwan braces for Super Typhoon Kong-rey

TAIPEI – Taiwan expects Super Typhoon Kong-rey to make landfall on Thursday along its sparsely populated east coast, issuing a warning for heavy rain and strong winds on Wednesday before the biggest storm in size to hit the island in nearly three decades.
Packing gusts of nearly 300 kilometres per hour (186 mph), the storm has strengthened into a super typhoon and is expected to further intensify before hitting Taitung county, according to the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
The storm is then forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head towards China, said Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration, which labelled the storm a “strong typhoon”, the most powerful storm level for Taiwan, adding it would be the biggest typhoon in size to hit the island since 1996.
The Taipei city government declared a typhoon holiday for Thursday, closing financial markets for the day.
Up to 1.2 metres of rainfall is expected in mountainous eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely to hit coastal areas on Thursday, according to the administration.
President Lai Ching-te urged people to stay away from the mountains and coast.
“I would like to urge my friends in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Taiwan’s defence ministry said it had put about 36,000 troops on standby across the island.
Central Weather Administration forecaster Stan Chang said it was relatively rare for a strong typhoon to directly hit Taiwan this late in the year, pointing to the still favourable environment for typhoons, including warmer sea temperatures in the Pacific and later-than-normal cold fronts from the north.
“We must urge people to make preparations. It’s a strong typhoon with a large size,” Chang added.
The administration said the unseasonable typhoon is set to be the fourth on record to make landfall in Taiwan in late October or after.
Heavy rain is also expected in the north around the capital Taipei throughout the day on Thursday, the administration said.
The transport ministry said at least 26 ferry trips to outlying islands had been stopped for Wednesday, while domestic carriers UNI Air and Mandarin Airlines said they had cancelled all flights for Thursday.
Taiwan’s coast guard rescued 17 sailors off its northern coasts on Tuesday after a Chinese cargo ship was abandoned amid high waves and winds.
Subtropical Taiwan is frequently hit by typhoons. The last one, Typhoon Krathon, killed four people earlier this month as it passed through the south of the island.