Super Typhoon Kong-rey was barreling toward Taiwan on Wednesday, packing ferocious winds and heavy rains in what was expected to be one of the most powerful storms to hit the island so late in the year.
The storm was expected to make landfall as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane along Taiwan’s eastern coast on Thursday, according to meteorologists. As of Wednesday afternoon, the authorities had grounded some flights and called boats to shore.
“The typhoon is coming fiercely,” Cho Jung-tai, Taiwan’s premier, said during a visit to the island’s Central Weather Administration on Tuesday. He warned that Kong-rey’s heavy rains could bring landslides and road closures to eastern Taiwan.
Taiwan issued a land warning on Wednesday over most of the island, according to the Central Weather Administration. Land warnings are issued when a typhoon’s sustained winds of at least 39 miles per hour are predicted to hit within 18 hours, according to the agency.
As of Wednesday morning dozens of flights in Taiwan had been canceled because of Kong-rey. Some ferry services were suspended in southeastern Taiwan, and fishing boats were called to shore. In the eastern coastal city of Hualien, which was hit by a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in April, the authorities prepared supplies and vehicles to help evacuate people.
In Yilan, a northeastern county, strong winds and rain had arrived by early Wednesday. At Suao Port in Yilan, which is usually crowded with military and civilian ships, a few vessels were docked at the harbor.
On social media, Taiwanese people expressed worry that such a powerful storm was arriving at the start of winter. 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 its concerts that had been scheduled for Friday and the weekend.
A super typhoon, equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane, may waver in intensity over the next 48 hours, potentially weakening slightly before landfall. Regardless of any weakening, Kong-rey will be a powerful typhoon as it nears Taiwan.
“Typhoon Kong-rey — a climatological freak,” an experienced typhoon chaser, James Reynolds, posted on social media. “Its track towards Taiwan and potential landfall intensity will make it a once in a generation (if not longer) storm.”
If Kong-rey makes landfall as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, it would be the strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan this late in the year.
As the typhoon traverses Taiwan, the mountains that run through the middle of the island are expected to weaken the storm, leaving the island’s eastern side to receive most of the rainfall.
But even after passing through Taiwan, Kong-rey is likely to remain a typhoon as it emerges over the Taiwan Strait and heads toward China, where it could make landfall on Friday.
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