Go here for the latest on Typhoon Kong-rey.

Super Typhoon Kong-rey was barreling toward Taiwan on Wednesday, packing ferocious winds and heavy rains in what was expected to be one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the island so late in the year.

The storm was expected to make landfall as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane along Taiwan’s eastern coast on Thursday, according to meteorologists. As of Wednesday afternoon, the authorities had grounded some flights and called boats to shore.

“The typhoon is coming fiercely,” Cho Jung-tai, Taiwan’s premier, said during a visit to the island’s Central Weather Administration on Tuesday. He warned that Kong-rey’s heavy rains could bring landslides and road closures to eastern Taiwan.

Kong-rey on Wednesday was skirting the northern Philippines, which was battered by Tropical Storm Trami last week. The Philippine government said on Wednesday that the two storms together had killed at least 139 people and left at least 21 others missing.

Taiwan issued a land warning on Wednesday over most of the island, according to the Central Weather Administration. Land warnings are issued when a typhoon’s sustained winds of at least 39 miles per hour are predicted to hit within 18 hours, according to the agency.