Typhoon Kong-rey leaves at least two dead and more than 500 injured

After the passage of typhoon Kong-rey, in Taipei, on November 1, 2024. CHIANG YING-YING / AP Clean-up operations were underway on Friday, November 1, in Taiwan, after the passage of Kong-rey, one of the largest typhoon that the island has experienced in recent decades and which left at least two dead and more than 500 injured. The storm, accompanied by gusts reaching 184 km/h and torrential rains, made landfall Thursday early in the afternoon in the southeast of the territory, and swept the entire island, toppling trees, causing flooding and landslides. A 48-year-old motorcyclist was killed Thursday in Taipei when a power pole fell on him, and a 56-year-old woman died after a tree fell on her vehicle in Nantou County, said the National Fire Agency, while more than 500 other people were injured. Searches are underway to find four people who went hunting in the mountains in the center of the country on Wednesday, and who have not been heard from since that evening. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers After the passage of the powerful typhoon Gaemi, the fear of an oil spill in the Philippines Read later Crossing the Taiwan Strait towards China on Friday, Kong-rey weakened to become a strong tropical storm, according to the Central Meteorological Administration. Across Taiwan, work and classes have resumed, and stores and restaurants have reopened. In the Taitung region, where the typhoon first hit, no “serious damage” was reported, according to a representative of the provincial fire service. 11,500 people evacuated “It was mostly trees that fell and crashed into the power poles that caused power outages,” said the firefighter, who only gave his last name, Huang. More than 11,500 people across the island had evacuated their homes as authorities warned of landslides. Taiwan is used to tropical storms, frequent from July to October, but it is “unusual for such a powerful typhoon to hit the island this late in the year,” notes meteorologist Chang Chun-yao. Climate change is increasing their intensity, with heavy downpours, flash floods and very strong gusts of wind, scientists say. Kong-rey is the third typhoon to hit Taiwan since July. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Former Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, visiting Europe to strengthen the island’s ties with “democracies” Read later Le Monde with AFP



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