TAIPEI: Taiwan was shut down before the arrival of the powerful typhoon Kong-rey on Thursday (October 31), with all cities and counties declaring a day off, financial markets closed and domestic flights canceled for what is expected to be the largest storm in 30 years.

The storm is expected to reach the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast around 2:00 pm (0600 GMT), according to Taiwan’s Central Meteorological Administration, with strong winds and torrential rain affecting almost the entire island.

At one point a super typhoon, Kong-Rey weakened slightly overnight but remained as strong as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane packing gusts of more than 150 mph, according to Tropical Storm Risk.

Taiwan’s weather administration labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the strongest storm level for Taiwan, adding that it would be the largest typhoon to hit the island since 1996.

Gene Huang, the administration’s forecaster, said that after hitting the east coast, it would move toward the Taiwan Strait as a much weakened storm and urged people on the island to stay home because of the danger of strong winds.

“The size of the storm is very large and the winds are strong,” he said.

Warnings for destructive winds of more than 160 km/h were issued in eastern Taitung County, whose outlying island of Lanyu recorded gusts of more than 260 km/h before some of the wind gauges there went offline.

Up to 1.2m of rainfall is expected in eastern Taiwan, with damaging winds along coastal areas, according to the administration.

The Ministry of Defense has put 36,000 troops on standby to help rescue efforts, while 1,300 people have been evacuated early from high-risk areas, the government said.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s largest chip maker and a major supplier to companies such as Apple and Nvidia, said it had activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures at all its factories and construction sites.

“We do not expect a significant impact on our operations,” it said in an emailed statement.

Taiwan’s high-speed railway, which connects major cities on its populous western plains, continued to operate with greatly reduced service.

The government warned people to stay away from mountains and the coast.

Kong-Rey is forecast to graze China along the coast of Fujian province on Friday morning.

Subtropical Taiwan is frequently hit by typhoons. The last, Typhoon Krathon, killed four people earlier this month as it passed through the south of the island.