What is the best wat to get hold of an existing tomselect when using TypeScript with type safety

[marceloverdijk]

What is the best wat to get hold of an existing tomselect when using TypeScript with type safety

import type TomSelect from 'tom-select'

// The TomSelect itself was already created out of my reach.
const $countryFilter = $('#country-filter')[0] as HTMLElement

// Now cast and call .tomselect
// Is this the best way to do this? The casting is painful for the eye ;-)
// With other libs like noUiSlider I can simply do:  as noUiSlider.target
const $tomselect = ($countryFilter as unknown as TomSelect).tomselect

$tomselect.on('change', () => applyFilters())