Packing maximum wind speeds of 184 kilometres per hour (114 miles per hour), Kong-rey slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday afternoon, the Central Weather Administration said.
It 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 radius of 320 kilometres made it the biggest in nearly three decades.
Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, but the weather agency said it was unusual for such a powerful typhoon to hit this late in the year.
Scientists have warned climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains and flash floods and stronger gusts.
"Its impact on all of Taiwan will be quite severe," Chu Mei-lin from the Central Weather Administration said.
Work and schools across Taiwan were suspended on Thursday as people hunkered down for the storm.
Uprooted trees had fallen on cars and blocked roads, hampering response efforts, an employee in a township administrative office in Hualien county told AFP.
"We continuously receive reports of disasters from residents, but due to the severe wind and rain, we can't address them," said Chen, who gave only her surname.
One person was killed when a falling tree crushed her vehicle on Thursday in the central county of Nantou, the National Fire Agency said. Another 73 have been injured in the wild weather.
- 'Feels very strong' -
"This typhoon feels very strong," Taipei office worker Kevin Lin, 52, told AFP.
"I'm used to the many typhoons in Taiwan and I don't feel scared."
Wind and rain intensified after the eye of the typhoon passed Chenggong town in Taitung county, said an official at the local fire department.
There was "very serious" flooding in neighbouring Hualien, the county's fire department chief Wang Ming-chung said, with rescues and evacuations still under way.
"We are also handling incidents of falling signboards hitting people and fallen trees on the roads," Wang told AFP.
Kong-rey was expected to weaken after hitting land and then move across the mountains that run down the centre of the island, before exiting over the Taiwan Strait in the evening, Chu said.
The streets of Taipei were largely deserted as heavy rain and fierce wind lashed the capital.
Island-wide, nearly 35,000 troops were on standby to help with relief efforts.
At least 34 mudslides have been recorded, 162 buildings damaged and 366 fallen trees, the National Fire Agency said.
- Flights scrapped, power out -
More than 400 domestic and international flights were cancelled while all ferry services were suspended, and over 250,000 homes were without power.
Taiwanese tech giant TSMC said it had "activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures" at its chip-making facilities and did not expect a "significant impact" on operations.
More than a metre of rain could fall in the hardest-hit areas along the east coast by Friday, as the seasonal monsoon also drenched the island of 23 million people earlier in the week.
Authorities have evacuated more than 9,600 people from their homes in vulnerable counties and cities, including Yilan, Hualien and Taitung, according to the National Fire Agency.
President Lai Ching-te urged people to avoid "dangerous behaviour" like going to the beach to watch the waves.
Kong-rey is the third typhoon to hit Taiwan since July.
Gaemi killed at least 10 people, injured hundreds 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, flooding and record-strong gusts.
aw-joy/amj/rsc
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