Thousands of people took shelter in shelters in southwestern Japan on Sunday as powerful Typhoon Nanmadol headed towards the region, prompting authorities to recommend that more than four million residents evacuate.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has issued a “special warning” for Kagoshima and Mizayaki prefectures in the south of the big island of Kyushu to warn residents of the high risk of severe weather.
98,000 homes already without electricity
As of Sunday morning, nearly 98,000 homes were already without power in the Kagoshima, Miyazaki, Kumamoto and Nagasaki areas, while regional rail services, flights and ferry crossings were canceled, according to utilities and services. local transport.
Some grocery stores, usually open 24 hours a day, including during severe weather, have also closed.
The JMA has warned that the region could face “unprecedented” danger from high winds, raging waves and torrential rain. “Please stay away from dangerous places and evacuate if you feel any danger,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida tweeted after calling a cabinet meeting. “It will be dangerous to evacuate at night. Get to safety while it is still daylight,” he added.
“A very dangerous typhoon”, warns the Japanese weather agency
State broadcaster NHK said more than four million people on the island of Kyushu had received urgent evacuation recommendations, and officials in Kagoshima and Miyazaki said more than 15,000 people were in local shelters. Sunday afternoon.
“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 strong that some houses could collapse,” Ryuta Kurora told reporters, also warning of floods and landslides. He also urged residents to evacuate before the worst happens and warned that even in solid buildings they should take precautions. “Do not go near the windows,” he urged.
Rapidly deteriorating weather conditions
On Sunday morning, high-speed train traffic in the region was suspended, along with regional train lines, and NHK said it reported hundreds of canceled flights.
On the ground, a municipal official in Izumi (Kagoshima prefecture) said the weather conditions were rapidly deteriorating. “The wind has become extremely strong. The rain is also falling very hard,” he told AFP. “Visibility is almost zero”.
On the coast, in the town of Minamata, fishing boats, moored for safety, floated on high waves, while driving rains sprinkled the promenade.
At 1 p.m. (4 a.m. GMT), the typhoon was over the small Japanese island of Yakushima and the wind was blowing at 234 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.
Japan already hit in the past
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 in the middle of the Rugby World Cup, killing more than a hundred 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. Scientists estimate that climate change is increasing the intensity of storms and extreme weather events.