One of Japan’s strongest typhoons in decades dumped torrential rain across southern regions yesterday, with one person missing and authorities warning of life-threatening flooding and landslides.
Typhoon Shanshan packed gusts of up to 252kph as it smashed into Japan’s main southern island of Kyushu early yesterday, making it the most powerful storm this year and one of the strongest at landfall since 1960.
The storm then weakened, with maximum gusts of 162kph at 5pm local time, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, but it was still dumping heavy rain across Kyushu and beyond as it moved slowly toward the main island of Honshu.
Photo: AFP
The agency warned that “the risk of a disaster due to heavy rain can rapidly escalate in western Japan as Friday approaches.”
Even before Shanshan hit, precipitation pummeled large area with three members of the same family killed in a landslide late on Tuesday in Aichi Prefecture about 1,000km from Kyushu.
Authorities issued their highest alert in places, with more than 5 million people advised to evacuate, although it was unclear how many did.
The city of Kunisaki warned inhabitants to “evacuate to a safe place or higher place such as the second floor of your houses” because of the risk of flooding.
One person was missing yesterday — reportedly a man on a small boat — and two people were seriously injured, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
Rain turned rivers into raging torrents while winds smashed windows and blew tiles off roofs. TV images showed flooded roads and power lines being repaired.
The coastal city of Miyazaki, littered with debris from nearly 200 damaged buildings, reported 25 injuries — including some from a tornado. Some parts of Miyazaki saw record rains this month, with the town of Misato recording a staggering 791.5mm in 48 hours, the agency said.
Worried student Aoi Nishimoto, 18, said he had called his family in Miyazaki to see if they were safe.
“Our home is fine, but there was a tornado in Miyazaki and power went out in some places,” he said.
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