TAIPEI – Workers cleared fallen trees and shopkeepers swept up debris in Taiwan on Nov. 1 after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the island in decades left at least two people dead.

Typhoon Kong-rey was blowing with winds of 184 km/h when it hit eastern Taiwan on October 31, trees were toppled, causing floods and landslides as they swept across the island.

A 48-year-old motorcyclist was killed when a falling power pole in the capital Taipei on October 31, bringing the death toll to two and more than 500 injured, the National Fire Agency said.

Searches were also underway for four people who had gone hunting in the mountains of central Taiwan on October 30 and have not been heard from since that evening.

Kong-rey weakened into a severe tropical storm as it crossed the Taiwan Strait toward China on November 1, the Central Meteorological Administration said.

In Taiwan, life was returning to normal, with offices, restaurants and schools reopening.

“The typhoon was so strong yesterday,” Pan Li-chu told AFP in her Taipei restaurant, where the awning was bent by the force of the wind.

“The trees there at the primary school were uprooted. The big banyan tree was uprooted,” she said.

Kong-rey dumped more than a meter of water in some of the hardest-hit areas on the east coast, the Central Meteorological Administration said.

In Taitung county, where the storm made landfall, a fire official told AFP that no “serious damage” had been reported.

“It was mainly the trees that fell and were crushed against the electricity poles that caused the power outage,” said the official, who only gave his surname Huang.

“Four cases of flooding have been reported and all have receded. There are also three reported cases of mudslides, including one near a tunnel, which we are currently checking.

Forecasters had warned of a severe impact from Kong-rey, which would intensify into a super typhoon as it approached Taiwan.

More than 11,500 people fled their homes as authorities warned of landslides.

Kong-rey was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most powerful storm to hit Taiwan in eight years when it made landfall in July, but Kong-rey’s 320 km radius made it the biggest storm in nearly three decades.

Taiwan is used to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but the weather agency said it was unusual for such a powerful typhoon to strike this late in the year.

Scientists have warned that climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, flash floods and stronger gusts.

Kong-rey is the third typhoon to hit Taiwan since July.

Gaemi killed at least 10 peopleinjured hundreds of people and triggered widespread flooding in the southern seaport of Kaohsiung.

That was followed in early October by Krathon, which killed at least four people and injured hundreds, triggering mudslides, floods and record gusts. AFP