Taiwan shuts down for arrival of strong Typhoon Kong-rey

TAIPEI — Taiwan shut down ahead of the arrival of strong Typhoon Kong-rey on Thursday (Oct 31) with all cities and counties declaring a day off, financial markets closed and hundreds of flights cancelled for what is expected to be the largest storm by size in 30 years.

The storm is forecast to make landfall on the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast around 2.00pm, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, with strong winds and torrential rain affecting almost all the island.

At one point a super typhoon, Kong-rey slightly weakened overnight but remained powerful as the equivalent of a Category Four hurricane packing gusts of more than 250 kph (155 mph), according to Tropical Storm Risk.

Taiwan's weather administration labelled the storm a "strong typhoon", the most powerful storm level for Taiwan, adding it would be the biggest typhoon in size to hit the island since 1996.

Administration forecaster Gene Huang said after hitting the east coast it would head towards the Taiwan Strait as a much weakened storm and urged people across the island to stay at home due to the danger of high winds.

"The size of the storm is very large and the winds are high," he said.

Warnings for destructive winds of more than 160 kph (100 mph) were issued in the eastern county of Taitung, whose outlying Lanyu island recorded gusts above 260 kph (162 mph) before some of the wind-barometers there went offline.

Up to 1.2 metres (3.9 feet) of rainfall is expected in eastern Taiwan with destructive winds along coastal areas, according to the administration.

The defence ministry has put 36,000 troops on standby to help with rescue efforts while 1,300 people have been evacuated from high risk areas ahead of time, the government