In southwestern Japan, authorities advised nearly three million residents to evacuate on Sunday (September 17) as powerful Typhoon Nanmadol headed towards the region. Thousands of people took refuge in shelters.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a “special warning” for the department of Kagoshima, in the south of the large island of Kyushu, to warn the inhabitants against the high risk of severe weather.
As of Sunday morning, 25,680 homes in Kagoshima and neighboring Miyazaki Prefecture were already without power, while regional rail services, flights and ferry crossings were canceled, according to local utilities and transport services.
The JMA has warned that the region could face danger ” unprecedented “ due to strong winds, raging waves and torrential rains. “The greatest caution is required”said Ryuta Kurora, head of the JMA’s forecasting unit, on Saturday. “It’s a very dangerous typhoon”. “The wind will be so violent that some houses could collapse”Mr. Kurora told reporters, also warning of floods and landslides.
So far, 2.9 million Kyushu residents have received urgent evacuation recommendations, according to the government’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency, and Kagoshima Prefecture officials said more than 8,500 people had already taken refuge in shelters on Sunday morning.
Mr Kurora urged residents to evacuate before the worst happens and warned that even in solid buildings they should take precautions.
Canceled trains and planes
On Sunday morning, high-speed train traffic in the region was suspended, along with regional train lines, and state broadcaster NHK said at least 510 flights had been cancelled.
On the ground, an official from the Kagoshima department told Agence France-Presse that no injuries or major damage had been reported so far, but that conditions were deteriorating. “The rain and the wind are getting stronger. The rain is so heavy that you can’t really see what’s outside. Everything seems white »he said.
At 9 a.m. local time (1 hour in Paris), the typhoon was 80 km southeast of the small Japanese island of Yakushima and the wind was blowing at 252 km/h. It is expected to make landfall in Kyushu further north on Sunday evening before turning northeast and sweeping Japan’s main island of Honshu through Wednesday morning.
The typhoon season peaks from August to September in Japan where it is marked by heavy rains that can cause sudden floods and deadly landslides.
In 2019, Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan during the Rugby World Cup, killing more than 100 people. A year earlier, Typhoon Jebi shut down Kansai airport in Osaka, killing 14 people. And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the rainy season.
According to scientists, climate change is increasing the intensity of storms and extreme weather events.