Typhoon drenches Japan, soaks voters

JAPAN: Tens of thousands across Japan were advised to evacuate, hundreds of flights were cancelled and rail services disrupted as heavy rain and wind lashed a wide swathe of Japan yesterday, a national election day, as a powerful typhoon neared.

Typhoon Lan, classified as an intense Category 4 storm by the Tropical Storm Risk monitoring site, was south of Japan and moving northeast at 40kmh yesterday afternoon, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

An agency official told a news conference that while the storm appeared to have weakened slightly from its peak, it was still a powerful storm that could pound parts of Japan with more than 80mm of rain an hour and might make landfall near Tokyo early today. ‘‘It will make landfall as a strong typhoon,’’ he added.

The agency issued warnings for heavy rain and flooding on the Pacific side of Japan including the Tokyo metropolitan area, even though the typhoon was likely to be downgraded to Category 3 overnight, with the activity of a seasonal rain front intensified by the storm. More than 20,000 households in various parts of Japan were advised to evacuate, NHK public television said, though there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he had called on the government to take steps as early as possible to minimise any threats to people’s lives.