Evacuations underway in Taiwan ahead of Typhoon Podul’s expected impact

Taiwanese authorities were racing on August 12 to evacuate hundreds of residents in anticipation of Typhoon Podul’s possible landfall on the island’s southeastern coast, as nearby regions continued struggling to recover from severe flooding and record winds caused by recent storms.

Taiwan, which frequently faces typhoons — particularly along its mountainous and sparsely populated Pacific-facing east coast — was bracing for the mid-strength Typhoon Podul, which was packing wind gusts of up to 155 km/h, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Meteorologists said the storm was intensifying as it moved toward the southeastern city of Taitung and was expected to come ashore in the area on August 13.

In the eastern county of Hualien, nearly 700 residents were being moved from their homes over concerns that a natural dam — formed by a landslide during a previous typhoon — could overflow.

“We must especially urge people living downstream to follow government instructions and evacuate,” said Chu Chung-jui, an official at the National Science and Technology Centre for Disaster Reduction. Speaking at a Taipei briefing for the typhoon task force, Chu noted that authorities were “closely monitoring this landslide lake.”

Forecasters warned that after striking Taiwan, Podul was expected to sweep across the island to the densely populated western coast before heading toward China’s southern Fujian province later this week.

Up to 600 millimetres of rain could fall in southern mountainous areas over the coming days, according to the Central Weather Administration.

In the south, officials were also relocating residents whose homes had been damaged by a July typhoon that unleashed record winds and disrupted power supplies in a rare direct strike on Taiwan’s west coast. That storm was followed in August by torrential rains that dumped more than a year’s worth of precipitation in just one week in parts of southern Taiwan, triggering widespread landslides and flooding that left four people dead.

More than a year's rainfall fell in a single week this month in parts of southern Taiwan, setting off widespread landslides and flooding, with four deaths.

By Tamilla Hasanova