Typhoon Podul has made landfall in southeastern Taiwan, bringing powerful winds and heavy rain to the island. The typhoon had wind gusts of 191 kilometers per hour as it made landfall in Taitung County at around 1:00 pm local time, the Central Weather Administration said. Podul is expected to sweep across the island and into the Taiwan Strait later Wednesday, battering central and southern areas still recovering from storms last month.
The storm’s impact has been severe, with one person reported missing and 33 others injured. Over 5,500 people living in the typhoon’s path have been evacuated from their homes, while fishermen have secured their boats. According to the transport ministry, all domestic flights – a total of 252 – as well as 129 international routes have been cancelled. Taiwan’s two main international carriers, China Airlines and EVA Air, said their cancellations were for routes out of Kaohsiung, with some flights from the island’s main international airport at Taoyuan stopped as well.
“We are worried about this typhoon,” Kaohsiung fisherman Huang Wei said, as he used more ropes to tie down his boat and checked on other vessels hours ahead of Podul making landfall. “After 8:00 am, the storm began to intensify,” she said, before Podul hit. “It’s still getting stronger. You can hear the wind is loud right now. We don’t recommend guests go out.”
The typhoon is expected to dump torrential rain across mountainous areas of Kaohsiung City and neighboring Pingtung County, as well as lightly populated Hualien and Taitung counties. As much as 600mm of rain has been forecast in southern Taiwan’s mountainous areas over the next few days, the Central Weather Administration said. Nine cities and counties have announced the suspension of work and school, including the southern metropolises of Kaohsiung and Tainan.
Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October, while scientists say human-driven climate change is causing more intense weather patterns. The island has experienced a series of severe weather events in recent weeks, including Typhoon Danas, which hit Taiwan in early July and killed two people and injured hundreds. Torrential rain from July 28 to August 4 also caused widespread damage, with some areas recording more than a year’s worth of rainfall in a single week. The week of bad weather left five people dead, three missing, and 78 injured, a disaster official said previously.