Taiwan closes schools and offices as typhoon Kong-rey approaches

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Schools and offices person been closed successful Taiwan arsenic a powerful typhoon approached connected Thursday, bringing precocious winds and floods to overmuch of nan island’s eastbound seashore and bluish areas.

Typhoon Kong-rey was expected to make landfall connected Thursday evening and was blowing astatine 191 kilometers (53 miles) per hr pinch gusts of up to 234 kilometers (145 miles) per hour. Parts of nan eastbound counties of Yilan and Hualien were inundated, but galore farmers successful nan mostly agrarian areas had already brought successful their crops successful anticipation of harm from upwind and rain.

No casualties aliases awesome spot harm person been reported frankincense acold successful Taiwan from Kong-rey, which prompted villagers successful bluish Philippine provinces to evacuate to shelters connected Wednesday.

In Taiwan's capitol Taipei, rainfall fell heavy amid precocious winds, while galore nationalist services, schools and offices were closed.

China, which claims Taiwan arsenic its ain territory and regularly sends planes and warships astir nan island, mostly suspended specified missions, pinch conscionable 8 planes detected astir nan land betwixt Wednesday and Thursday, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry.