Taiwan suspends work, classes as super typhoon Kong-rey approaches

Taiwan has suspended work and classes on some outlying islands and fishers secured their boats as authorities warned approaching Super Typhoon Kong-rey could trigger landslides.

Strong winds and heavy rains were expected to pound swathes of the island of 23 million people ahead of Kong-rey making landfall in the southeast on Thursday afternoon.

Kong-rey was packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 240 kilometres (150 miles) per hour as it neared Taiwan, the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center said in its latest update.

Fishers wearing raincoats tied down their boats in the harbour of Yilan county, southeast of Taipei, as rain fell.

"Of course I'm worried. All my assets are here," a fisherman, who gave his name as Captain Chen, said.

Kong-rey was expected to dump the heaviest rain over Taiwan's eastern and northern coastal areas and the mountains in central and southern regions, said state forecaster the Central Weather Administration.

'It is very rare'

Yilan and the eastern county of Hualien were expected to be hardest hit, with accumulated rainfall from Tuesday to Friday reaching 800 millimetres to 1,200 millimetres (31 inches to 47 inches), forecaster Chang Chun-yao said.

"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.

Classes and work were suspended on the two main islands of Taitung county, where the typhoon looks set to make a direct hit based on the storm's current trajectory.

Ferry services between Taiwan's outlying island of Kinmen and the Chinese port city of Xiamen were also halted.

Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but Chang said it was unusual for such a powerful typhoon to hit the island this late in the year.

"It is very rare for a moderate or stronger typhoon to make landfall in late October. The last occurrence was the Typhoon Nock-ten in October 2004," Chang said.