Financial markets shut, offices and schools closed
Thai Airways International suspended three flights to and from Taipei on Thursday and one on Friday due to the approach of Typhoon Kong-rey.
Flights TG634 (Bangkok-Taipei), TG636 (Bangkok-Taipei) and TG635 (Taipei-Bangkok) were cancelled on Thursday, with flight TG637 (Taipei-Bangkok) suspended on Friday, the national carrier announced on its Facebook page.
“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Passengers with bookings on these flights are advised to contact Thai Airways Customer Service at 662-356-1111 for assistance with rebooking or further information,” the airline stated.
In preparation for the typhoon, Taiwan has shut down, with all cities taking a day off, financial markets closed, and hundreds of flights cancelled.
The storm is expected to make landfall on the east coast around 2pm (1pm Thailand time), according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration.
At one point a super typhoon, Kong-rey slightly weakened overnight but remained powerful as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane bringing gusts over 250 kilometres per hour and heavy rainfall, according to Tropical Storm Risk.
Taiwan’s weather administration labelled the storm a “strong typhoon”, the most powerful storm level for Taiwan, adding it would be the biggest typhoon in size to hit the island since 1996.
Administration forecaster Gene Huang said that Kong-rey would head towards the Taiwan Strait as a much-weakened storm after hitting the east coast. He urged people across the island to stay indoors due to high winds.
“The size of the storm is very large, and the winds are high,” he said.
Warnings for destructive winds exceeding 160 km/h have been issued in the eastern county of Taitung, whose outlying Lanyu island recorded gusts above 260 kph before some of the wind-barometers there went offline.
Up to 1.2 metres of rainfall is expected in eastern Taiwan with destructive winds along coastal areas, according to the administration.
Taiwan’s Defence Ministry has put 36,000 troops on standby and evacuated 1,300 people from high-risk areas, the government said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and major supplier to companies like Apple and Nvidia, reported that it has activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures at all its factories and construction sites.
“We do not expect significant impact to our operations,” it said in an emailed statement.
According to Taiwan’s Transport Ministry, 298 international flights had been cancelled, along with all domestic flights and 139 ferry services to and from outlying islands.
Taiwan’s high-speed railway, which connects major cities on its populated western plains, continued to operate with a reduced service.
The government has warned people to stay away from the mountains and the coast.
Kong-rey is forecast to graze China along the coast of Fujian province on Friday morning.
Subtropical Taiwan is frequently hit by typhoons. The last one, Typhoon Krathon, killed four people earlier this month as it passed through the south of the island.
A Thai Airways International plane. (File photo)