The storm struck Taitung County shortly after midday, travelling west at 36 kilometres per hour and expected to exit into the Taiwan Strait later in the day.
In Taitung, powerful gusts tore the roof from a petrol station, blew a fishing raft into a road and shattered shop windows.
Several businesses sustained damage, and about a dozen flights to southern destinations were delayed or cancelled.
Podul, spanning 120 kilometres, was forecast to weaken as it crossed Taiwan’s mountainous interior towards the Chinese coast.
