Kong-rey is currently more powerful than the deadly Typhoon Gaemi, which was the strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years when it made landfall in July.
“If (Kong-rey) keeps the current wind speed, it will be the biggest typhoon in eight years,” Chang Chun-yao from the state weather forecaster, Central Weather Administration, told AFP.
Classes and work were suspended on the two main islands of Taitung county, where the typhoon looks set to make a direct hit, while dozens of ferry services and domestic flights were cancelled on Wednesday.
Taipei residents planning to hunker down during the storm stocked up on fresh vegetables, while fishers wearing slickers against the rain tethered their boats in the harbour in Yilan county, southeast of the capital.
“Of course I’m worried. All my assets are here,” a fisherman, who gave his name as Captain Chen, told AFP.
Kong-rey was expected to dump the heaviest rain on Taiwan’s eastern and northern coastal areas, and over the mountains in the central and southern regions, the Central Weather Administration said.
Yilan and the eastern county of Hualien were expected to be hardest hit, with accumulated rainfall from Tuesday to Friday reaching 800ml to 1,200ml, forecaster Chang told AFP.
“Based on the projected path of the typhoon, we advise Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung to take precautions against potential landslides and debris flows in areas expected to receive heavy rainfall,” Chang said.
Authorities began evacuating residents from their homes in the southern seaport city of Kaohsiung on Wednesday, as well as in Yilan, Hualien and Taitung, according to the National Fire Agency.
“There is heightened concern as some recovery work from the last typhoon has yet to begin, and extra caution is advised for areas affected by recent earthquakes,” said Chen-yu Chen of the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, who leads a team monitoring disasters in slope areas.
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