Typhoon Kong-ray, the largest typhoon to directly hit Taiwan in about 30 years, has hit the island's east coast, UNN reports citing the BBC.
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Schools and businesses across Taiwan were closed on Thursday, with supermarkets shuttered and devastated as millions of residents prepared for the storm, which began at around 1:40 a.m. local time.
With a diameter of more than 500 kilometers and wind speeds of about 33 km/h near its center, Kong-ray is classified as a Category 4 storm - just short of being declared a super typhoon.
Hundreds of flights and ferries, as well as the Taiwanese stock exchange, were also shut down.
The eastern part of Taiwan, which is expected to be the hardest hit by Typhoon Kong-ray, could see up to 1,200 mm of rainfall between October 29 and November 1, according to forecasters at the island's weather agency.
The Taiwanese Ministry of Defense has allocated 36,000 soldiers to the reserve for possible rescue operations.
Kong-ray is expected to gradually weaken after making landfall and moving across Taiwan.
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It is unusual for such a powerful typhoon to arrive so late in the year. According to the Taiwan Meteorological Agency, the typhoon season usually falls between July and September.
Over the past eight decades, all of the strongest typhoons have hit during this window. But this year, two huge storms hit Taiwan in October - the other was Super Typhoon Kraton, which killed four people and injured more than 700.
Ocean scientists have reported near-record levels of global sea surface temperature since July, meaning there is more heat energy at the ocean surface to fuel storm systems.