Black Friday is Now! Don’t miss out on up to 60% OFF InvestingProCLAIM SALE

Taiwan shuts down as strong Typhoon Kong-rey hits, one dead

Published 10/31/2024, 03:38 AM
Updated 10/31/2024, 11:46 AM
© Reuters. A view of trees blowing in strong winds, as Typhoon Kong-rey makes landfall, in Taitung County, Taiwan October 31, 2024, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Rich-Sunshine Inn/via REUTERS
AAPL
-
NVDA
-
META
-
ORC
-

By Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI (Reuters) -A strong Typhoon Kong-rey made landfall on Taiwan's east coast on Thursday, the largest storm by size to hit the island in nearly 30 years, closing financial markets, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and reducing rail services.

The typhoon knocked out power to nearly half a million households, the government said.

The storm hit the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast county of Taitung, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, with strong winds and torrential rain affecting almost all the island.

The fire department reported one person had died when their truck hit a fallen tree in central Taiwan.

At one point a super typhoon, Kong-rey slightly weakened overnight but remained powerful as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane packing gusts of more than 250 kph (155 mph), according to Tropical Storm Risk.

Taiwan's weather administration put the typhoon's size at the biggest to hit the island since 1996. 

"I hope that everyone in the country will co-operate in avoiding disaster and refraining from engaging in dangerous behaviour such as wave watching during the typhoon," President Lai Ching-te wrote on his Facebook (NASDAQ:META) page. 

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. 

Environmental officials were working on Thursday to prevent oil leaking from a Chinese cargo ship beached against rocks on Taiwan's northern coast after losing power in turbulent weather.

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

"It was terrifying last night. Many people on the island didn't sleep, worrying about something happening to their house," Sinan Rapongan, a government official on Lanyu, also known as Orchid Island (NYSE:ORC), told Reuters.

Some roofs had been damaged and more than 1,300 homes had lost power but so far no injuries had been reported, she added. 

Parts of eastern Taiwan recorded one metre (3.3 feet) of rainfall since the typhoon began approaching on Wednesday.

The defence ministry has put 36,000 troops on standby to help with rescue efforts, while almost 10,000 people have been evacuated from high risk areas ahead of time, the government said.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest contract chipmaker and major supplier to companies like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), said it has activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures at all its factories and construction sites.

"We do not expect significant impact to our operations," it said in an emailed statement.

Taiwan's transport ministry said 314 international flights had been cancelled, along with all domestic flights.

Taiwan's high speed railway, which connects major cities on its populated western plains, continued to operate with a much reduced service.

© Reuters. A view of trees blowing in strong winds, as Typhoon Kong-rey makes landfall, in Taitung County, Taiwan October 31, 2024, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Rich-Sunshine Inn/via REUTERS

Kong-rey is forecast to graze China along the coast of Fujian province on Friday morning. China's financial hub Shanghai is bracing for potentially the worst rains in more than 40 years.

Subtropical Taiwan is frequently hit by typhoons. The last one, Typhoon Krathon, killed four people earlier this month as it passed through the south of the island.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.