The typhoon, with gusty winds of up to 184 kilometers per hour and torrential rains, made landfall
Clean-up operations are underway in Taiwan today after the passage of Kong-rei, one of the most powerful typhoons on record in recent decades, which left two dead and more than 500 injured.
The typhoon, with gusty winds of up to 184 kilometers per hour and torrential rains, made landfall yesterday afternoon in the southeastern part of the island, and then swept across Taiwan, uprooting trees, causing floods and landslides.
A 48-year-old motorcyclist was killed when he was crushed by a power pole in Taipei, and a 56-year-old female passenger was killed when a tree fell on her vehicle in Nandu County (central), fire officials said, while more than 500 people were injured.
Searches are underway to locate four hunters in a mountainous area in central Taiwan — who had gone missing on Wednesday — as their families have not been heard from since last night.
Kong-rei, which is crossing the Taiwan Strait heading toward China today, has weakened to a severe tropical storm, according to the Taiwan Meteorological Agency.
Across the island, work and classes have resumed, and shops and restaurants have reopened.
More than 11,500 people had to leave their homes as authorities feared landslides.
Taiwan is used to tropical storms, which generally hit between July and October, but it is “unusual” to see such a strong typhoon “so late in the year”, a meteorologist said.
Scientists keep warning that climate change is making such extreme weather events much more powerful and destructive.
Kong-rei was the third typhoon to hit Taiwan since July.
Source :Skai
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