Taiwan warns Typhoon Kong-rey ‘rapidly’ intensifying

TAIPEI - The authorities in south-eastern Taiwan suspended some ferries and advised fishers to return to shore on Oct 29, as the island’s weather forecaster warned that the approaching Typhoon Kong-rey was “rapidly” intensifying.

Packing maximum wind speeds of 155kmh, the storm could make landfall on late Oct 29 or early Oct 31, the Central Weather Administration said.

“It is now intensifying rapidly,” Mr Lin Po-tung of the weather agency told a news conference.

He warned waves could reach 5m or 6m high on Oct 30, with heavy rain also forecast in the capital Taipei.

Disaster officials in Taitung county, which looked set to bear the brunt of Kong-rey based on the storm’s current trajectory, advised fishers to return to shore and secure their boats, while ferry services to outlying islands were suspended.

“The main impact on Taitung will be damage caused by strong winds,” the local fire agency said.

Further north in the coastal city of Hualien, which was hit by a 7.4-magnitude earthquake in April, the authorities prepared supplies for the vulnerable, as well as vehicles ready to evacuate people.

Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but scientists have warned that climate change is increasing their intensity, leading to heavy rain, flash floods and strong gusts.

In July, Gaemi became the strongest typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in eight years, killing at least 10 people, injuring hundreds and triggering widespread flooding in the southern seaport city of Kaohsiung.

That was followed in early October by Krathon, which killed at least four people and injured hundreds, as well as triggering mudslides, flooding and record-strong gusts.

In a bid to avoid a repeat of the flooding, there have been “increased efforts on clearing sediment from rivers and in more areas”, said Mr Wang Yi-fung, a spokesman for the Water Resources Agency, under the Economic Ministry. AFP