One person was reportedly killed and hundreds of thousands were without electricity in southern Japan on Wednesday as a typhoon approached packing powerful winds and lashing rain.
Hundreds of flights to Okinawa and other islands in the area were cancelled, stranding thousands of tourists holidaying in the region's tropical beach resorts.
Typhoon Khanun, described as "very strong" by the Japanese weather agency, brought maximum sustained wind speeds of 180 kilometers an hour.
Okinawa's power company said 220,580 households -- nearly 35 percent of the total in the region -- had no electricity early on Wednesday.
An evacuation warning issued across Okinawa and the southern part of Kagoshima region was in place, urging more than 690,000 residents to move to safety, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
The agency said a total of 11 people in Okinawa were mildly injured.
A 90-year-old man died after being trapped under a collapsed garage on Tuesday evening, public broadcaster NHK reported, adding that strong winds were probably the cause.
The Japan Meteorological Agency warned of flooding and landslides in some parts of the main island of Okinawa.
The typhoon was about 70 kilometers south of Okinawa's remote Kumejima island at 9 a.m. and was moving west-northwest, according to the JMA.
It was expected to cross to eastern China later in the week.
More than 400 flights were cancelled on Wednesday, according to NHK, affecting more than 65,000 passengers.
On Tuesday, tourists made long queues at the main Naha airport, hoping to get back home.
"We haven't been able to secure a hotel and we don't know when the return flight can be booked," Minako Kawakami told local daily Okinawa Times.
© 2023 AFP
11 Comments
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Yubaru
I really wonder where they are getting their information from. This typhoon, by all recognized and reliable, forecast agencies, is going to continue to move to the east for a day, and loop back just north of Okinawa and NOT go anywhere near eastern China!
http://www.typhoon2000.ph/multi/?name=KHANUN
piskian
@Yubaru
Yep,heading eastwards towards us in Amami this weekend.
Hope you and yours are okay down there.
Yubaru
Back at ya! There are some seriously crazy pictures from this typhoon
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F2e0nCVbQAMWeOV?format=jpg&name=900x900
Eastmann
Yubaru take care stay safe buddy
piskian
Yep,been riding last couple of days.
Yubaru
Thank you! We lost power for about 12 hours, actually ran out and found a Family Mart open, got a few bags and blocks of ice, and got home and "saved" the food in the fridge and freezer.
Saw lots of downed trees, foliage blowing all over the place, flipped cars, but generally speaking, it wasnt so bad! Have to wait for the reports to get collected about just how bad it was though.
Rodney
@yubaru
my heart is always with you.
I just don’t understand why Japanese government spending so much money on hosting US bases and their families instead of caring about the people that live there
tamanegi
"It was expected to cross to eastern China later in the week."
JT this is incorrect. Why haven't you updated this? NHK have been reporting all afternoon that the typhoon is heading in an eastern direction possibly towards Kagoshima
njca4
I think the information that it was expected to continue its path (north east) toward was accurate a week ago when we first saw it moving that way. I thought it would go the same way as typhoon 5 to be honest, this is the definitely the worst outcome.
Fingers crossed it's not too bad for you guys
njca4
*north west, sorry
Wandora
It's headed this way:
https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#5/28.304/128.76/&elem=root&typhoon=all&contents=typhoon&lang=en