TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A McDonald's sign in southern Taiwan was no match for Typhoon Koinu as it packed record-shattering winds.
As Koinu approached Taiwan on Wednesday evening (Oct. 4), the Orchid Island weather station measured a wind gust of 95.2 meters per second, or 342.72 kilometers per hour, the third-strongest wind gust in world history and the highest ever in Asia. By Thursday (Oct. 5), Kenting in Pingtung County's Hengchun Peninsula began to feel Koinu's force, with surveillance cameras at Dawan Beach shaking violently, cameras at Nanwan Beach blacking out, and the McDonald's sign becoming warped by the storm's power, reported ETtoday.
Typhoon Koinu made landfall in Eluanbi at 8:20 a.m. on Thursday, and by 5 p.m. it was already 130 km west of Eluanbi. According to the Central Weather Administration's forecast for the next 24 hours, it is expected that the mountainous areas of Pingtung County will accumulate 300 to 450 millimeters of rainfall from 2 p.m. Thursday to 2 p.m. to Friday (Oct. 6).
Similarly, mountainous areas of Taitung County are also expected to receive 300 to 450 millimeters of accumulated rainfall over the same period.
Koinu's raging winds and torrential rains struck Kenting Main Street on Thursday. Everything is in disarray, with scooters knocked over in rows like dominoes.
The streets, usually packed with tourists, are empty with only a few scattered vehicles passing by. Even the McDonald's sign on Kenting Road with its "M" logo has been blown askew by the strong winds.
(陳老喬 photo)
(陳老喬 photo)
