Typhoon Kong-rey made landfall in Taiwan on Thursday as the most powerful storm to hit the island in nearly three decades, killing one person and injuring more than 200 others.
The authorities in Taiwan closed schools, offices and financial markets, evacuated thousands of people, grounded hundreds of flights, and mobilized the military to help deal with the storm.
Kong-rey was the most powerful typhoon to hit Taiwan in 28 years, said Gene Huang, a forecaster with the island’s Central Weather Administration. The storm approached the island with maximum sustained winds of about 126 miles per hour, equivalent to those of a strong Category 3 hurricane, according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
At least one person died, and 205 were injured by heavy wind and rain on the island as of Thursday night, according to Taiwan’s national fire agency. A 56-year-old woman in central Taiwan died after a tree fell and crashed into the truck she was in, the agency said.
More than 11,900 people were evacuated in 14 cities and counties on the island, according to Taiwan’s Interior Ministry.
While the island was under land and sea warnings on Thursday evening, the Central Weather Administration said that the storm had moved off the island around 6:40 p.m. local time.
Just after 10 p.m. local time, Kong-rey was still packing maximum sustained winds of up to 109 m.p.h., with wind gusts of up to 132 m.p.h., according to forecasters.
Advisories for heavy rain and other extreme weather through Friday morning were issued across the island, and nearly four feet of rain was forecast to fall in some mountainous areas.
“My plans are in chaos,” said Huang Shu-ting, 45, as she put a bag of frozen chicken nuggets into a basket at a supermarket in Taipei on Thursday.
Ms. Huang said she had canceled a trip to southern Taiwan, where she had planned to visit her ailing father.
“Fortunately Taiwanese people are very experienced in facing typhoons,” Ms. Huang added. “I’m not worried too much; the storm will pass soon.”
The storm’s effects were also being felt in China, where meteorologists said that it could make landfall on Friday and bring heavy wind and rain to several cities, including Shanghai, the country’s financial hub.
Several train routes in China’s eastern Yangtze River Delta region were suspended on Thursday because of Kong-rey. More than 4,000 emergency workers had been deployed to prepare for rescue efforts across several southern provinces, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Kong-rey hit Taiwan after skirting the northern Philippines, which was battered by Tropical Storm Trami last week. The Philippine government said on Wednesday that the two storms combined had killed at least 139 people and left at least 21 others missing.
Kong-rey is expected to remain a typhoon as it emerges over the Taiwan Strait and heads toward southern Japan and China, where it could make landfall again on Friday.
On social media, Taiwanese people expressed concern that such a powerful storm was arriving so late in the year. Though typhoons happen all year, most storms in the western Pacific form from May to October.
Many fans of Mayday, a popular Taiwanese pop band, were dismayed after it canceled concerts that had been scheduled for Friday and the weekend.
According to Brian McNoldy, a researcher at the University of Miami, the most recent typhoon equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane or stronger to hit Taiwan directly was Krosa, on Oct. 6, 2007. That storm cut power to nearly half a million homes and disrupted air and sea traffic as it came ashore.
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