Typhoon Haishen slams Japan
Authorities urge evacuation of more than 100,000 households
Typhoon Haishen drew closer to Japan’s southern mainland on Sunday, cutting power and prompting authorities to recommend evacuation and warn of potentially record rainfall, unprecedented wind, high tides and large ocean swells.
Authorities urged early evacuation for more than 100,000 households in the southern island prefecture of Okinawa and in Kagoshima, Kumamoto and Nagasaki on Kyushu, Japan’s main southern island, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA).
“This typhoon is headed toward and may potentially make landfall in Kyushu, bringing record rains, winds, waves and high tides,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a meeting with cabinet ministers.
“I am asking that people exercise the utmost caution,” he said.
In Yakushima, an island 100km south of Kagoshima city, trees could be seen shaking violently in strong winds and driving rain, according to a post on Twitter.
Elderly citizens wearing face masks due to the Covid-19 outbreak were gathering at evacuation centres in Kagoshima and other parts of southern Japan, footage on national broadcaster NHK showed.
The typhoon has cut power to almost 30,000 homes in Kagoshima prefecture and more than 3,000 homes in Okinawa, NHK said.
Two injuries have been reported, according to the FDMA, but authorities were advising the highest levels of caution because of the risk of damage from high winds, flooding, and landslides.
Typhoon Haishen is set to achieve sustained winds of up to 216km per hour by Monday, the meteorological agency said.
The typhoon’s centre was near Yakushima on Sunday, moving north at 35kph.
The typhoon was forecast to approach the Goto Islands west of Nagasaki around 3am on Monday and then move to the Korean peninsula, according to Japan’s meteorological agency.
One evacuation centre in Miyazaki reached capacity and stopped accepting evacuees as a precaution against Covid-19, according to NHK.