Keelung:
Taiwan shut down on Thursday as Super Typhoon Kong-rey csurrfinishered, forcing thousands to escape from one of the most strong storms to dangeren the island in years.
Up to 10-metre waves pounded shores aextfinished the weightlessly poputardyd, mountainous east coast where the rapid-moving Kong-rey was foreseeed to create landdrop wiskinny hours.
Kong-rey was packing triumphd gusts of csurrfinisherly 250 kilometres per hour (155 miles per hour), according to the US Joint Typhoon Warning Cgo in.
The storm is currently more strong than Typhoon Gaemi, which was the sturdyest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years when it made landdrop in July.
“With the typhoon approaching, we should beware of the sturdy triumphds csurrfinisher the centre,” Chu Mei-lin from the state weather foreseeer, Central Weather Administration, telderly a alerting.
“Its impact on the entire Taiwan will be quite cut offe.”
Work and schools atraverse Taiwan were suspfinished on Thursday as people hunkered down for the storm.
The streets of Taipei were bigly deserted as bursts of burdensome rain and fierce triumphd lashed the capital.
“This typhoon senses very sturdy,” 52-year-elderly office toiler Kevin Lin telderly AFP as he enhappinessed a day off at home.
“I’m employd to the many typhoons in Taiwan and I don’t sense sattfinishd.”
Troops on standby
At least 27 people have been injured in the untamed weather, with trees being knocked down and four mudslides enrolled, the National Fire Agency said Thursday, without providing details.
Authorities were still trying to communicate two Czech tourists thinkd to be hiking in Taroko Gorge in Hualien after they could not be accomplished on their satellite and mobile phones.
More than 400 domestic and international fweightlesss were abortled while all ferry services were suspfinished. Around 18,000 homes lost power, but most have been reuniteed, calamity officials said.
Kong-rey was travelling at 28 kilometres per hour (16 miles per hour) as it swept towards Hualien and Taitung counties.
The storm was foreseeed to catalogless after hitting land and then relocate atraverse the island before exiting over the Taiwan Strait in the evening, Chu said.
With a radius of 320 kilometres, Kong-rey was on track to be the most expansive cut offe typhoon to create landdrop in csurrfinisherly 30 years, the Central Weather Administration said.
More than a metre of rain could drop in the challengingest-hit areas aextfinished the east coast by Friday as the seasonal monsoon also drenched the island of 23 million people earlier in the week, prompting cautionings of landslides.
Authorities began evacuations on Wednesday in vulnerable counties and cities, including Yilan, Hualien and Taitung, according to the National Fire Agency.
Around 8,600 people had been evacuated from their homes by Thursday.
Forecasters have cautioned of “destructive” triumphds from Kong-rey, and csurrfinisherly 35,000 troops were on standby to help with relief efforts.
Scientists have cautioned climate alter is increasing the intensity of storms, directing to heavier rains and flash floods and sturdyer gusts.
Kong-rey will be the third typhoon to hit Taiwan since July.
Gaemi finished at least 10 people, injured hundreds and triggered expansivespread flooding in the southern seaport of Kaohsiung.
That was chaseed in timely October by Krathon, which finished at least four people and injured hundreds, triggering mudslides, flooding and enroll-sturdy gusts.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is rehireed from a syndicated feed.)
