Taiwan Shuts Down as Powerful Typhoon Kong-Rey Smashes the East Coast

Businesses and schools across Taiwan have closed, and hundreds of flights have been canceled as millions of people prepare for the arrival of Super Typhoon Kong-rey. 

It is one of the most severe storms to hit the island in decades.

Taiwan's Ministry of Defence has put 36,000 troops on standby to assist with rescue efforts. 

Besides, 1,300 people have been evacuated from high-risk locations ahead of the typhoon, which is expected to make landfall on the island's sparsely populated east coast at around 2:00 pm (06:00 GMT) Thursday.

Super typhoon Kong-rey causes fear with extremely big eye

With a storm radius of 320 kilometers (198 miles), Taiwan's weather administration stated that Kong-rey will be the largest typhoon to reach the island since 1996.

"The storm is very large, and the winds are very strong," said Gene Huang, a weather administration forecaster.

According to the administration, eastern Taiwan will get up to 1.2 meters (3.9 feet) of rainfall, as well as devastating wind gusts near the shore.

Warnings have been issued for catastrophic winds of more than 160 kilometers per hour (99 miles per hour) in the eastern county of Taitung, whose outlying Lanyu island reported gusts of over 260 kilometers per hour (162 miles per hour) before some of the wind barometers there went offline.

Taiwan's Ministry of Transport said that all domestic flights, 298 international flights, and 139 ferry services to and from outlying islands had been canceled.

Police check roofing damage caused by Typhoon Kong-Rey's winds

Moreover, at least 27 people have been injured so far as a result of the extreme weather, with trees down and four mudslides reported, according to the National Fire Agency, which did not provide further details.

Kong-rey is expected to graze China around the coast of Fujian province on Friday morning.

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