00:00A large swathe of southern and eastern Taiwan shut down on Wednesday, and hundreds of flights
00:07were cancelled ahead of the arrival, later in the day of Typhoon Podul, with thousands
00:11of people evacuated. The mid-strength Typhoon Podul was heading for the southeastern city
00:17of Taitung, as it intensifies and was expected to make landfall nearby on Wednesday afternoon.
00:23Nine cities and counties announced the suspension of work and school, including the southern
00:28metropolises of Kaohsiung and Tainan. In the capital Taipei, home to Taiwan's financial
00:34markets, there was no impact. Authorities are also working to evacuate those whose homes
00:40were damaged by a July typhoon that brought record winds and damaged the electricity grid
00:45in a rare direct hit to Taiwan's west coast. The government said more than 5,500 people
00:51had been evacuated ahead of the typhoon's arrival. All domestic flights were cancelled, 252 in
00:57total, while 129 international ones were axed too. After making landfall, the storm is expected
01:04to hit Taiwan's much more densely populated western coast before heading for China's southern
01:09province of Fujian later this week.
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