Taiwan shuts down, braces for arrival of Super Typhoon Kong-rey

Biggest typhoon in decades will hit Taiwan where schools and businesses have been suspended amid heavy rains, winds.

Business and schools have shut across Taiwan and hundreds of flights were cancelled as millions of people brace for the arrival of Super Typhoon Kong-rey, one of the most powerful storms to threaten the island in decades.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Defence has put 36,000 troops on standby to help with rescue efforts, while 1,300 people have been evacuated from high-risk areas in advance of the typhoon, which is forecast to make landfall on the island’s sparsely-populated east coast at around 2:00pm (06:00 GMT) on Thursday.

With a storm radius of 320km (198 miles), Taiwan’s weather administration said Kong-rey would be the biggest typhoon by size to hit the island since 1996.

“The size of the storm is very large, and the winds are high,” weather administration forecaster Gene Huang said.

Up to 1.2 metres (3.9 feet) of rainfall is expected in eastern Taiwan with damaging wind speeds along coastal areas, according to the administration.