Thousands of people evacuated in Taiwan as Typhoon Podul makes landfall

Typhoon Podul made landfall in Taiwan on Wednesday, forcing authorities to close schools and government offices as heavy rain threatened more damage to agriculture in the island’s southeast.

The storm hit Taitung County on the east coast shortly after noon local time (4 am CEST), moving across the southern third of the island, some 36 kilometres per hour, at which rate it would head out to the Taiwan Strait and China by late afternoon.

Nearly 400 domestic and international flights were delayed or cancelled, according to reports.

Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said it remained unclear how severe the storm would be, with high waves and winds seen across much of the southeast.

Although some weather experts believe such storms typically hit the island's east coast hard before losing speed and strength as they pass over the central mountain range, before continuing toward the Chinese coast.

Podul, which was spread across an area of 120 kilometres, was expected to broaden even while losing strength as the storm moved westward across the Taiwan Strait.

The areas affected are well south of the capital Taipei, along with Taiwan’s main international airport and high-tech industrial base, where traffic and operations have been limited.

Taiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms that come between July and October, with Typhoon Podul being its 11th typhoon this year.

Along with flooding, typhoons routinely damage fruit and other cash crops and bring landslides through the island’s centre.

Heavy rains in recent weeks severely damaged crops in most of central and southern Taiwan, but caused few fatalities. They also knocked out electricity in rural areas, which took weeks to fix.