Typhoon Kong-rey blasts Taiwan with destructive winds, flooding rain leaving at least 1 dead

TAIPEI, Taiwan The strongest typhoon in nearly 30 years slammed Taiwan on Thursday, leaving at least one person dead and bringing the island to a near standstill as destructive winds and flooding rain lashed the region.

Typhoon Kong-rey slammed Taiwan with winds of around 115 mph, which is as strong as a Category 3 hurricane, when it made landfall on Thursday. Nearly 500,000 power outages were reported, and officials have urged people to remain indoors until conditions improve.

“I also hope that the whole country will cooperate to avoid disasters and not engage in dangerous behavior such as wave watching during typhoon,” President Lai Ching-te said on his Facebook page.

According to reports, a large tree fell onto a truck near Nantou County’s Ren’ai Township, trapping a 76-year-old man and leaving his passenger dead. In addition, two Czech tourists who were reported missing in the Tarugu Mountain area have been located.

In a Facebook post, officials said the two tourists are expected to be rescued by Friday when weather conditions improve.

At least 73 people were injured in the typhoon, and more than 9,600 people had been evacuated from low-lying, flood-prone areas.

Travel in the area has been heavily impacted, with some rail service being suspended and flights into and out of the region being canceled due to the storm’s effects.

One video shows a plane attempting to land amid the storm’s fury and appearing to fly sideways before briefly landing and then immediately taking back off into the clouds.

This graphic shows the forecast track of Typhoon Kong-rey.
(FOX Weather)

 

After Typhoon Kong-rey finishes its deadly assault on Taiwan, it’s expected to skirt the coast of China before moving off to the east and impacting Japan by the end of the weekend.

Some information translated via Google Translate