Japan braces for landfall of Typhoon Shanshan

TOKYO: Japan was bracing for heavy rains and high winds yesterday as a strong typhoon was forecast to make landfall near the capital of Tokyo, the latest storm to hit Japan in recent months.

Typhoon Shanshan, a Chinese girl’s name, was a Category 2 typhoon but was expected to weaken slightly as it moved closer to the eastern part of Japan’s main island of Honshu, drawing near to Tokyo early today and may snarl the morning rush hour.

The Japanese Meteorological Agency warned that Tokyo and surrounding areas could get as much as 350mm of rain in the 24 hours to noon today, with winds gusting as high as 180kmh.

Shanshan was expected to move extremely slowly, perhaps as slowly as 15kmh , meaning intense rain might fall in one area for an extended period.

After pounding the area near Tokyo the storm is expected to rake the northeastern part of Honshu before weakening to tropical storm strength and heading out into the Pacific.

Western Japan, the site of deadly floods in July, will be spared.

A Typhoon Shanshan forced Air New Zealand to cancel two flights between Auckland and Tokyo yesterday.

The airline said it was continuing to monitor conditions closely.

On its travel alert page, the airline said due to the nature of Typhoon Shanshan, Air New Zealand services, as well as onward travel from Tokyo could be further disrupted at any point. — Reuters/ NZME