Taiwan records third most powerful winds in the world as Typhoon Koinu hits

It is known that Typhoon Koinu hit the southern part of Taiwan in what is said to be the third strongest hit of winds ever recorded and this has also led to the measuring device being destroyed by the winds as well. It is also noted that as many as 200 people on the island have been injured due to these winds and the speeds reached that of a supercar or F1 cars at their top speeds.

CWA said, “Typhoon Koinu brought wind gusts of up to 95.2 metres per second, or 342.7km/h (212.9mph) when it crossed Taiwan’s outer Lanyu (Orchid) island on Wednesday night. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) told the Guardian it was the highest wind gust recorded in Taiwan since the organisation was founded in 1986. The gust destroyed the island’s anemometer”. It is worth noting that “The gust appears to be the third-strongest recorded globally. In 1996 Western Australia’s Barrow Island recorded a 408km/h gust, which broke the record set in 1934 when a 372km/h gust was recorded in the US on Mount Washington in New Hampshire.”

As per the report, “Koinu, which means “puppy” in Japanese, made landfall on the Hengchun peninsula in Taiwan’s far south as a category four typhoon. Fire services reported 190 people were injured, mostly in West Coast cities, including Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung”. Chiayi’s emergency operation center said “some of the injured included people who were riding their scooters and fell in the strong winds or were hit by falling branches. More than 62,000 homes and businesses were without power by midday Thursday”. While the operations in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, remained normal, it was noted that schools and offices were closed in most other parts of Taiwan due to the typhoon.

Taiwan has been situated in an active tropical storm zone which means that it is likely to get hit by typhoons and storms but it was not directly hit by one in the last four years. Having said that, the island has been hit by two in just the last two months and the damage caused by it can be seen on videos posted on social media platforms.