Authorities in Taiwan are on high alert as Super Typhoon Kong-rey, after battering the Philippines, barrels towards the island’s eastern coast, CNN reports.
The storm, packing winds of 150 miles per hour, is the equivalent of a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane and is expected to make landfall early Thursday in Taitung County.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued a sea warning on Tuesday and has since issued land warnings for over half of Taiwan’s counties, anticipating the storm’s outer bands. While Kong-rey is predicted to weaken slightly before making direct landfall, it is still expected to unleash intense downpours, posing a risk of flash floods, storm surges, and landslides.
The typhoon is also expected to generate waves up to eight meters high upon landfall, with heavy rainfall forecast across Taiwan, including the capital Taipei.
In preparation for the storm’s impact, Taiwan’s military has placed 36,000 soldiers on standby for rescue and relief operations. The Central Emergency Operations Center has also mobilized over 6,000 first responders. While most flights and ferries across Taiwan are operating as usual, two outlying islands, Green Island and Orchid Island, have suspended work and classes.
Taiwan has a strong record of responding to typhoons, but remote villages in mountainous regions remain particularly vulnerable to landslides. Earlier this month, Typhoon Krathon killed four people in southern Taiwan due to heavy rainfall.
Meanwhile, the northern parts of the Philippines’ Luzon Island have been experiencing the outer bands of Kong-rey, locally known as Leon, prompting authorities to order evacuations. This comes on the heels of devastation caused by Tropical Storm Trami, known as Kristine, which claimed the lives of at least 130 people last week.
