Taiwan has been shut down ahead of the arrival of strong Typhoon Kong-rey on Thursday with all cities and counties declaring a day off. Taiwan has suspended trading on its $2.5 trillion stock market as locals brace for a direct hit from Super Typhoon Kong-Rey, one of the biggest storms to strike the island in nearly 30 years.
Over 500 flights have been cancelled as Typhoon Kong-rey is poised to make landfall in east Taiwan on Thursday afternoon. Taipei has also announced the suspension of its metro services on elevated rail sections beginning from 11 am local time due to strong winds brought by Typhoon Kong-rey. The Taiwan Railway Corp. also cancelled all express trains on its Western Trunk Line, Eastern Trunk Line and South Link Line due to the Typhoon Kong-rey.
According to the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Kong-rey was packing wind gusts of nearly 250 kilometres per hour. Up to 10-metre waves pounded shores along the lightly populated, mountainous east coast where the fast-moving Kong-rey was expected to make landfall within hours.
It is likely to cross the Taiwan coast as a Category 3 storm. The CWA has forecast extremely heavy rain for eastern and northern Taiwan on Thursday, with more than 200 millimetres of rainfall expected in 24 hours.
When Will Typhoon Kong-rey Hit Taiwan?
According to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, Typhoon Kong-rey is forecast to make landfall on the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast around 2:00 PM local time (11:30 AM as per IST).
Typhoon Kong-rey Live Tracker
The map below by windy.com shows the live tracking and possible route of Typhoon Kong-rey.
*If the map is not visible then click on the link below to access the live tracking of Typhoon Kong-rey.
The Taiwanese defence ministry said it had mobilised about 36,000 troops on standby across the island to deal with the impact of Typhoon Kong-rey.
The country's Central Emergency Operations Center said that over 6,000 first responders have been put on standby for assistance in response to the typhoon.
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