The Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued land warnings for Typhoon Kong-rey this morning as the intensifying storm continued on its path toward the southern tip of Taiwan.
A land warning was issued at 5:30am for Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), meaning that those areas are expected to be within the storm's outer rim within 18 hours.
At 8:30am, Hualien County and all of Pingtung County were added to the land warning areas.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration
The storm had intensified into a strong typhoon by 8am, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 184kph and gusts of 227kph.
By 10am, it was 480km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point, and moving northwest at 15kph to 20kph.
The entirety of Taiwan is expected to be included in the land warning area by late tonight, the CWA said.
The CWA is projecting the storm's periphery to hit southeastern Taiwan early tomorrow morning, and believes the eye is most likely to make landfall south of Hualien County between noon and evening.
The agency predicted heavy rain starting from today for Keelung, the north coast and mountainous areas in greater Taipei and Yilan County, and warned of flash floods, rockfalls and mudslides in the mountains.
Mountainous areas in Yilan may see accumulated rainfall of 250mm to 400mm over the coming 24 hours, the CWA said.
In central and southern Taiwan, rain may only intensify after the storm has made landfall and begun to pass over the Central Mountain Range, the agency said.
The Taipei City Government announced that it would only allow vehicles to exit the riverside areas from 4pm today as it prepares to close the floodgates at 10pm.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) advised residents to secure any loose items, as winds of level 10 on the Beaufort scale (89kph to 102kph) in low-lying areas and level 14 (149kph to 165kph) in mountainous areas are possible tomorrow.
Additional reporting by Tsai Yun-jung
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