1 Dead as Typhoon Kong-rey Hits Taiwan's East Coast, Hundreds Injured

Taipei: A powerful typhoon called Kong-rey struck Taiwan on Thursday, resulting in 1 death and causing strong winds and flooding across much of the island's east coast.

Flights and train services in Taiwan were halted, and 8,600 individuals were relocated to shelters.

Typhoon Kong-rey was moving over the eastern county of Taitung with winds reaching 184 kilometers per hour and gusts up to 227 kph. Heavy rain flooded parts of Yilan and Hualien counties, but many farmers in these predominantly rural areas had already harvested their crops in preparation for potential storm damage.

Kong-rey weakened to 144 kilometers per hour as of Thursday night, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, and the centre of the storm moved off the main island. It is expected to move northeast and will hit Taiwan's outlying islands.

Taiwan authorities reported one death and 205 injuries from the storm as of Thursday afternoon. The fatality occurred after a tree fell on a vehicle. Officials also said they were trying to contact a pair of Czech tourists who had been hiking in Hualien's Tarako National Park, famed for its steep cliffs and mountain trails. Other travelers were advised to stay where they were.

The capital, Taipei, was largely shut down as it was hit by high winds and heavy rains. Offices and schools across the island were closed. Off the north coast, a tugboat was dispatched to tow away a Chinese-registered freighter that floundered and had been abandoned by its crew amid heavy seas.

Earlier Thursday, the typhoon's eye blew about 110 kilometers east of the northernmost Philippine province of Batanes, a cluster of islands and islets of about 19,000 people. Villagers in northern Philippine provinces evacuated to shelters on Wednesday.

The Philippines weather agency had warned the the storm could blow away roofs and shatter windows and wreak extensive damage to farmland, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

“It's so, so powerful and we haven't seen the extent of the damage yet because the wind outside is still so strong,” Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco told The Associated Press by cellphone before the line was cut off.

Kong-rey, the 12th weather disturbance to hit the Philippine archipelago this year, lashed the Southeast Asian nation while it's still recovering from a storm last week that left 179 dead and missing. Hundreds of thousands of people are still in emergency shelters from Tropical Storm Trami.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory and regularly sends planes and warships around the island, largely suspended its patrols, with just eight planes detected around the island between Wednesday and Thursday, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry.

(With PTI inputs)