Typhoon Kong-rey made landfall in Taiwan on Thursday afternoon as the most powerful storm to hit the island in nearly three decades, after the authorities closed schools, offices and financial markets, evacuated thousands of people, grounded hundreds of flights, and mobilized the military.
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.
As of Thursday afternoon, 73 injuries linked to heavy wind and rain from the typhoon had been reported across the island, 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 at the time, the agency said.
More than 9,600 people had been evacuated in 13 cities and counties on the island as of Thursday morning, according to Taiwan’s Interior Ministry.
The entire island was under land and sea warnings on Thursday afternoon, meaning that sustained winds of at least 39 m.p.h. were predicted to hit or come close to Taiwan within hours. Advisories for extremely heavy rain and other extreme weather stretched 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.
