Taiwan braces as Typhoon Podul intensifies on approach

Schools and workplaces close, hundreds of flights cancelled and thousands evacuate arsenic Typhoon Podul nears island.

Thousands of radical person evacuated, schools person closed, and hundreds of flights person been cancelled arsenic Typhoon Podul approaches confederate Taiwan with upwind gusts arsenic beardown arsenic 191kph (118 mph).

The mid-strength Typhoon Podul is expected to marque landfall aboriginal connected Wednesday, and was reported to beryllium intensifying arsenic it approached Taiwan’s southeastern metropolis of Taitung, upwind officials said.

Podul “is strengthening”, Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lin Ting-yi said, with the typhoon connected way to deed the sparsely populated Taitung County astatine astir noon section clip (04:00 GMT).

After making landfall, the tempest is expected to deed Taiwan’s much densely populated occidental seashore earlier moving into the Taiwan Strait and towards China’s confederate state of Fujian aboriginal this week.

As overmuch arsenic 600mm (almost 24 inches) of rainfall has been forecast successful confederate mountainous areas implicit the adjacent fewer days, the CWA said, portion 9 cities and counties announced the suspension of enactment and school, including the confederate metropolises of Kaohsiung and Tainan.

Taiwan’s authorities said that much than 5,500 radical had been evacuated successful beforehand of the typhoon’s arrival, and each home flights – a full of 252 – arsenic good arsenic 129 planetary routes person been cancelled, the transport ministry said.

Typhoon Podul lashed Orchid Island with gusts of up to 155 kph astatine astir 8 a.m. Wednesday, contributing to a powerfulness outage that deed 258 households successful the island's Tungching Village. Winds and rainfall were besides intensifying successful Taitung. pic.twitter.com/qaeCwFg9Vu

— Focus Taiwan (CNA English News) (@Focus_Taiwan) August 13, 2025

Taiwan’s 2 main planetary carriers, China Airlines and EVA Air, said their cancellations were for routes retired of Kaohsiung, with immoderate flights from the island’s main planetary airdrome astatine Taoyuan stopped arsenic well.

In the capital, Taipei, which is location to Taiwan’s fiscal markets and is being spared the typhoon truthful far, residents reported wide skies and immoderate sunshine.

Typhoon Danas, which deed Taiwan successful aboriginal July, killed 2 radical and injured hundreds arsenic the tempest dumped much than 500mm (19.6 inches) of rainfall crossed the southbound implicit a weekend, causing wide landslides and flooding.

That was followed by torrential rainfall from July 28 to August 4, with immoderate areas signaling much than a year’s worthy of rainfall successful a azygous week. The week of atrocious upwind near 5 radical dead, 3 missing, and 78 injured, a catastrophe authoritative said previously.

Taiwan is accustomed to predominant tropical storms from July to October, portion scientists accidental human-driven clime alteration is causing much aggravated upwind patterns.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies