Star Metro - Typhoon Podul intensifies as its near Taiwan

The typhoon is packing wind speeds of 155 kilometres (96 miles) per hour at its centre and "is strengthening", Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lin Ting-yi told AFP.

Podul is on track to hit lightly populated Taitung County at around noon (0400 GMT) before sweeping across the island and into the Taiwan Strait.

"We are worried about this typhoon," Kaohsiung fisherman Huang Wei told AFP as he used more ropes to tie down his boat and checked on other vessels.

"We had already made general typhoon preparations yesterday, but this morning I woke up and saw news reports that the typhoon has intensified to be as strong as the last, (Typhoon) Krathon," Huang said.

"Last time, the two boats behind us weren't tied properly and hit my boat."

Krathon slammed into Kaohsiung in October, with wind gusts of 162kph. Podul has gusts of 191kph, Lin said.

More than 5,500 people have been evacuated from their homes ahead of Podul, disaster officials said Wednesday, as the typhoon threatens to pound central and southern regions that are still recovering from storms last month.

Mountainous areas of Kaohsiung City and neighbouring Pingtung County, as well as Hualien and Taitung counties, could see torrential rain, the CWA said.

All domestic flights across the island of 23 million people have been cancelled, along with dozens of international journeys.

Many ferry services have been suspended and businesses and schools across the south closed.

Typhoon Danas, which hit Taiwan in early July, killed two people and injured hundreds as the storm dumped more than 500mm (about 20 inches) of rain across the south over a weekend.

That was followed by torrential rain from July 28 to August 4, with some areas recording more than Taiwan's rainfall of 2.1 metres for 2024.

The week of bad weather left five people dead, three missing, and 78 injured, a disaster official said previously.

O.Poirier--SMC