Japanese weather officials say a large and very strong typhoon is expected to directly hit Taiwan on Thursday. They are warning of high waves for residents on the Sakishima Islands in Okinawa Prefecture in southern Japan. They are also warning of heavy rain, mainly in western Japan from Friday through Saturday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency says that as of 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Typhoon Kong-rey was situated over the sea east of the Philippines.
The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 180 kilometers per hour near its center, with gusts up to 252 kilometers per hour.
Its central atmospheric pressure was 975 hectopascals at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, but dropped to 930 hectopascals at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, and further dropped to 925 at 9 a.m. on the day.
Such a drastic decrease is said to be a “rapid development” or “rapid intensification,” a phenomenon typical of powerful typhoons.
The US Joint Typhoon Warning Center at one point categorized Kong-rey as a super typhoon.
The Japan Meteorological Agency forecasts that the storm will develop into a violent typhoon through Thursday and directly hit Taiwan.
The agency expects winds will likely become stronger on the Sakishima Islands, which include Ishigaki and Miyako islands. Waves could reach as high as 10 meters in the Yaeyama region on Thursday.
Officials are calling on people on the Sakishima Islands to stay on the alert for high waves and violent winds.
The agency predicts that the storm will later travel northward over the East China Sea, then will likely change to an extratropical low on Friday night.
Meanwhile, weather officials in Taiwan are calling on people to be on the alert for strong winds, high waves and heavy rain, with Kong-rey approaching.
Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration says the typhoon will likely make landfall on the eastern part as early as Thursday afternoon, then travel northwest and move away to the Taiwan Strait.
The administration has categorized the storm as the highest level of three.
Winds and rain have been intensifying in the eastern county of Taitung, where commuting to work and school was suspended from Wednesday evening.
In Taipei, sandbags could be seen piled up outside the entrances to buildings.
A 39-year-old man in the city said he is concerned the farming and fishing industries will be severely affected. He said he hopes the typhoon will pass and life will return to normal soon.
In the Philippines, weather officials announced on Wednesday that the storm has intensified into a “super typhoon” and it will be closest to Batanes, the country’s northernmost island region, from late evening on Wednesday to Thursday morning. They say a landfall in Batanes is also not ruled out.
Another storm hit the northern part of the Philippines last week, causing mudslides and floods and leaving 145 people dead and 37 missing.
Authorities are calling on residents to exercise maximum caution, saying the heavy rain could have caused the ground to be loosened.