Typhoon Kong-rey, the latest in a string of storms to hit Taiwan, is bringing record winds, intense rain and fresh damage.
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00:00Rockslides, mudslides, and flooding.
00:04Hualien County, on Taiwan's east coast, has seen plenty of all three
00:08over what's been a rough typhoon season.
00:10And even now, at the end of October, it's not over,
00:13as Typhoon Kongrei barrels straight into the country.
00:16Trains are shut, and in some areas, roads are washed out too.
00:24In the county's rugged interior, rockslides have hit homes too.
00:28Residents of at least two indigenous villages in Hualien County's mountains
00:31have had to evacuate.
00:33There were similar scenes in many areas,
00:35as schools and businesses nationwide shut for the day.
00:38As the typhoon landed, other transport services,
00:40like parts of the Taipei Metro, shut down too.
00:43And over 200 flights were cancelled from Taoyuan International Airport.
00:47Meteorologists say this is not a typhoon to be taken lightly.
00:59The military is not taking chances.
01:01It's wrapped up a week of drills early,
01:03and is shifting troops to disaster relief.
01:06And at a virtual meeting with local officials across the country,
01:09President Lai Ching-teh said it's already time to start thinking
01:12about recovery and reconstruction.
01:29This is an action.
01:33In other words, the central government and local disaster response centers
01:37need to take care of disaster recovery
01:40so that our people can return to normal life.
01:44And Lai said that means not just physically rebuilding damage,
01:47but also economic relief for farmers,
01:49who face ruin from the latest in a string of powerful typhoons
01:52to hit the country in what's been a stormy year.
01:55Eason Chen and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.