Typhoon Kong-rey, the largest typhoon to directly hit Taiwan in nearly 30 years, has made landfall on the island’s east coast.
Schools and workplaces in Taiwan were closed and supermarkets were emptied on Thursday as millions of residents braced for the storm that struck around 1:40 p.m. local time (04:40 GMT).
At one point before making landfall, Typhoon Kong-rey had winds of more than 125 mph (200 kph) near its center, the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane.
Hundreds of flights and ferries, along with Taiwan’s stock exchange, have also been suspended.
The typhoon has injured more than 70 people and killed at least one, authorities said Thursday afternoon. A 56-year-old woman died after a falling tree hit a vehicle she was riding in.
It has also caused power outages in half a million homes, according to electricity provider Taiwan Power Company.
It is unusual for a typhoon of this size to hit so late in the year. According to Taiwan’s weather bureau, typhoon season typically falls between July and September.
For the past eight decades, all the strongest typhoons have hit within that time frame. But this year, two massive storms hit Taiwan in October — the other was Super Typhoon Krathon, which killed four people and injured more than 700.
“I’m 70 years old,” a man in Hualien told a TV reporter, “and I’ve never seen a typhoon hit so late in the year.”
Oceanologists have reported near-record levels of global sea surface temperatures since July, meaning there is more heat energy on the ocean surface to fuel storm systems.
In addition to the extreme wind speeds of typhoons, one of the biggest threats to life from these storms is often the enormous amount of moisture they carry, which can lead to excessive rainfall, flooding and landslides.
The deadliest storm to hit Taiwan in recent decades was Typhoon Morakot in August 2009. The Category 1 storm dumped 2,777 mm (1,080 in) of rain on the island’s south, causing flash floods and landslides that killed nearly 900 people.
The eastern part of Taiwan, which will be hit hardest by Typhoon Kong-rey, could see 1,200 mm (47 in) of rain between October 29 and November 1, the island’s meteorologists said.
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has 36,000 troops on standby for possible rescue operations. About 8,600 people have already been evacuated from high-risk areas, authorities said.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who attended a briefing on the typhoon Thursday morning, urged people to stay home for their own safety.
Kong-rey is expected to gradually weaken after it makes landfall and moves across Taiwan. The storm is expected to leave the island by Friday, the weather bureau said.