Typhoon Podul bringing destructive winds to southern Taiwan: CWA

Taipei, Aug. 13 (CNA) The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has issued warnings of destructive winds to parts of Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung County on Wednesday afternoon, after Typhoon Podul made landfall in southeastern Taiwan at around 1 p.m.

As of 2 p.m., the typhoon was moving west-northwest at a speed of 31 kilometers per hour (kph), and packing maximum sustained winds of 89 kph, with gusts of up to 119 kph, according to CWA data.

The agency projected Podul would move out to sea near Tainan at around 5 p.m.

The CWA warned that Qigu, Jiangjun and Beimen districts in Tainan, Xiaogang and Linyuan districts in Kaohsiung, and Donggang, Fangliao, Linbian, Xinyuan and Jiadong townships in Pingtung County will all experience sustained winds of up to 118 kilometers per hour or gusts reaching 150 kph as the typhoon passes through.

People in these areas should take shelter immediately, steer clear of elevated roads, bridges and overpasses, and stay away from objects that can be blown around by the strong winds, such as scaffolding, windows, trees or vehicles, the CWA warned.

The winds are expected to last well into Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the CWA issued heavy rain advisories across most of Taiwan, effective through early Thursday morning.

Torrential rain warnings have been issued for Hualien County, Taitung County and mountainous regions in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, which signal rainfall exceeding 350 millimeters in 24 hours or 200 mm in three hours.

Extremely heavy rain advisories warning of accumulated rain exceeding 200 mm in 24 hours or over 100 mm in three hours were issued for Tainan, Kaohsiung, Chiayi County, Pingtung County, mountainous regions in Yilan County, and outlying Green Island and Orchid Island.

Heavy rain advisories have been issued for Taichung, Chiayi City, Changhua County, Nantou County, Yunlin County, Yilan County, the outlying Penghu County, and mountainous regions in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, and Miaoli County.

A heavy rain advisory indicates that rainfall can exceed 80 mm in 24 hours or over 40 mm in one hour.

As of 1:30 p.m., the location in Taiwan with the most accumulated rain on Wednesday was Hualien's Fuli Township with 277 mm, followed by Taitung's Chishang Township with 266.5 mm and Pingtung's Chunri Township with 258.5 mm, according to the CWA.