Typhoon Podul reached eastern Taiwan on Wednesday, bringing powerful winds and torrential rain to large parts of the island, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

Hualien and Taitung counties on the eastern coast have experienced intensified winds and rainfall Wednesday morning as the storm’s outer bands swept across the region.

The Ministry of National Defense dispatched troops to Hualien to assist in evacuations, moving residents to emergency shelters as flooding risks rose.

Schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan were closed for the day.

Such storms typically hit the east coast hard before losing strength as they pass over the Central Mountain Range before continuing toward the Chinese coast.

Podul's skirt measured 120 kilometers (75 miles) across and was expected to broaden even while losing strength as the storm moved westward across the Taiwan Strait.

The areas affected so far are well south of the capital, Taipei, along with Taiwan’s main international airport and high-tech industrial base.

Around a dozen flights that would have traveled south toward the path of the storm were delayed or canceled.

Along with flooding, typhoons routinely damage fruit and other cash crops and bring landslides through the island’s center.

Much of central and southern Taiwan was badly hit by heavy rains in recent weeks that caused severe damage to crops but minimal casualties, while also knocking out electricity to rural areas that took weeks to repair.