Typhoon Kong-rey, the largest typhoon to directly hit Taiwan in nearly 30 years, made landfall on the island's east coast.
Schools and workplaces in Taiwan were closed on Thursday, supermarkets shuttered and stripped bare, as millions of residents prepared for the storm that struck around 1:40 p.m. local time.
With a diameter of more than 500 kilometers and winds of around 33 km/h near its center, Kong-rey is classified as a Category 4 storm – just shy of being declared a super typhoon.
Hundreds of flights and ferries, as well as the Taiwan stock exchange, were also suspended.
It is unusual for a typhoon of this magnitude to occur so late in the year. Taiwan's typhoon season, according to the weather agency, is usually between July and September.
Over the past eight decades, all of the strongest typhoons have occurred within this window. But this year, two huge storms hit Taiwan in October, the other being super typhoon Krathon, which killed four people and injured more than 700.
“I'm 70 years old,” a Hualien man told a television reporter, “and I've never seen a typhoon hit this late in the year. »
Oceanographers have reported near-record global sea surface temperatures since July, meaning there is more thermal energy on the ocean surface to power storm systems.
Beyond the extreme wind speeds of typhoons, one of the greatest threats to life caused by these storms is often the enormous amount of moisture they carry, which can lead to excessive rain, flooding and landslides.
The deadliest storm to hit Taiwan in recent decades was Typhoon Morakot in August 2009. The Category 1 storm dumped 2,777 mm of rain on the south of the island, triggering flash floods and landslides. land which killed nearly 900 people.
The eastern part of Taiwan, which is expected to be hardest hit by Typhoon Kong-rey, could receive up to 1,200 mm of precipitation between October 29 and November 1, according to forecasters from the Taiwan Meteorological Agency. island.
Taiwan's Defense Ministry has put 36,000 troops on standby for possible rescue operations.
Kong-rey is expected to gradually weaken after making landfall and crossing Taiwan. The storm is expected to leave the island on Friday, the weather agency says.
