Typhoon Podul makes landfall in Taiwan

Typhoon Podul pounded Taiwan on Wednesday shutting down businesses in the south grounding hundreds of flights and knocking out power for tens of thousands of householdsWind gusts of up to 178 kilometres 111 miles per hour were recorded shortly before the typhoon made landfall in Taitung County the Central Weather Administration CWA saidOne person is missing after he went fishing and was swept away and 33 have been injured the National Fire Agency saidMore than 7300 people have been evacuated from their homes and trees and signs have been toppled as the storm sweeps across central and southern regions still recovering from storms last monthKaohsiung Tainan and Chiayi will become major rainfall hotspots tonight with increasing rain also expected in Penghu and Kinmen CWA Administrator Lu Kuochen told a briefing attended by President Lai ChingteWe are worried about this typhoon Kaohsiung fisherman Huang Wei said as he tied down his boat with ropes hours ahead of Podul making landfallWe 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 told AFPLast time the two boats behind us werent tied properly and hit my boat he added as he checked on other vesselsKrathon slammed into Kaohsiung in October with wind gusts of 162 kph Flights scrapped schools shut All domestic flights across the island of 23 million people have been cancelled on Wednesday along with dozens of international journeysMore than 134500 households have suffered power outagesHighspeed rail services on the west coast have been reduced while train services in the southeast have been cancelledMany ferry services have also been suspended and businesses and schools across the south are closedMore than 31500 soldiers were ready to assist in rescue and relief efforts disaster officials saidThe CWA expects mountain areas in Kaohsiung and Tainan could be hit with a cumulative 400600 millimetres 1624 inches of rain from Tuesday to ThursdayPodul has already entered the Taiwan StraitTyphoon Danas which hit Taiwan in early July killed two people and injured hundreds as the storm dumped more than 500 mm of rain across the south over a weekendThat was followed by torrential rain from July 28 to August 4 with some areas recording more than Taiwans rainfall of 21 metres for 2024The week of bad weather left five people dead three missing and 78 injured a disaster official said previouslyTaiwan is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to OctoberScientists have shown that humandriven climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likelyGlobal warming driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels is not just about rising temperatures but the knockon effect of all the extra heat in the atmosphere and seasWarmer air can hold more water vapour and warmer oceans mean greater evaporation resulting in more intense downpours and stormsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever