Typhoon Podul slammed into southeastern Taiwan on Wednesday, with powerful winds and heavy rain lashing the island.

The typhoon had wind gusts of 191 kilometres per hour as it made landfall in Taitung County at around 1pm, the local weather forecaster said.

Podul is expected to sweep across the island and into the Taiwan Strait later on Wednesday, battering central and southern areas still recovering from storms last month.

More than 5,500 people living in the typhoon's path have been evacuated from their homes, while fishermen have secured their boats.

"We are worried about this typhoon," Kaohsiung fisherman Huang Wei said as he used more ropes to tie down his boat and checked on other vessels hours ahead of Podul making landfall.

"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," he said.

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

Typhoon Podul is expected to dump torrential rain across mountainous areas of Kaohsiung and neighbouring Pingtung County, as well as Hualien and Taitung counties.

The storm forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

High-speed rail services on the west coast have been reduced while train services in the southeast have been cancelled.

Many ferry services have also been suspended, and businesses and schools across the south are closed. (Reuters)