TOKYO: Japan braced Wednesday for its strongest typhoon of the current year, with officials advising tens of thousands of people to evacuate and issuing the highest warning level for wind and storm surges on the main southern island of Kyushu.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told the media that Typhoon Shanshan is likely to approach southern Kyushu with extremely strong force through Thursday and it may make landfall. Yoshimasa Hayashi said that it is likely that violent winds, high waves, and storm surge at levels that many people have never experienced before may take place.
The approach of the heavy storm, packing gusts of up to 252 kilometers per hour and already bringing widespread heavy rain, prompted auto giant Toyota to stop production at all fourteen of its factories.
Two persons remained unaccounted for on Wednesday following a landslide buried a home with five family members inside in Gamagori, a city in central Aichi region. Rescuers and local officials worked around the clock and on Wednesday afternoon they recovered a woman.
For southern Kyushu the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) forecast 1,100 millimeters of precipitation in the 48 hours to Friday morning.
The JMA issued its highest “special warning” for violent storms, waves and high tides in parts of the Kagoshima region of Kyushu, with officials there advising 56,000 people to evacuate. Footages on NHK TV showed roof tiles being blown off homes, broken windows as well as felled trees.
Japan Airlines also canceled around 172 domestic flights and about 6 international flights scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, while ANA suspended around 219 local flights and four global ones on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The cancelations affected about 25,000 people.
