TAIPEI: Authorities in southeastern Taiwan suspended some ferries and advised fishermen to return to shore on Tuesday (Oct 29) as the island’s weather forecaster warned that the approaching Typhoon Kong-rey was “rapidly” intensifying.

The Central Weather Service said the storm, with maximum wind speeds reaching 155 kilometers per hour, could make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday.

“It is rapidly intensifying at the moment,” Lin Po-tung of the weather agency said at a news conference.

Lin warned that waves could reach 5 to 6 meters high on Wednesday, with heavy rain also expected in the capital Taipei.

Disaster authorities in Taitung County, which appears poised to bear the brunt of Kong-rey based on the current course of the storm, have advised fishermen to return to shore and secure their boats, while ferry services to outlying islands have also been suspended.

“The main impact on Taitung will be damage caused by strong winds,” the local fire department said.

Further north, in the coastal city of Hualien, hit by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in April, authorities prepared supplies for the vulnerable and vehicles ready to evacuate people.

Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but scientists have warned that climate change is increasing the intensity of these storms, leading to heavy rains, flash floods and strong winds.

In July, Gaemi became the strongest typhoon to reach Taiwan in eight years; It killed at least 10 people, injured hundreds and caused widespread flooding in the southern port city of Kaohsiung.

This was followed Early October by KrathonThe incident, which killed at least four people and injured hundreds, caused landslides, floods and record high winds.

Yi-fung Wang, spokesman for the Economy Ministry’s Water Resources Agency, said “efforts to clear sediments in rivers and more areas” are “increasing efforts” to prevent a repeat of the flood.