FUKUOKA: Thousands of people were in shelters in southwestern Japan on Weekend (Sep 18) since powerful Typhoon Nanmadol churned towards the region, prompting authorities to urge nearly three or more million residents in order to evacuate.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) offers issued a rare “special warning” for the Kagoshima region in the southern part of Kyushu prefecture — an alert that is issued only when it predictions conditions seen once in several decades.
By Sunday early morning, 25, 680 families in Kagoshima and neighbouring Miyazaki had been already without energy, while regional teach services, flights and ferry runs were cancelled until the passage of the storm, nearby utilities and transport services said.
The JMA has warned the region could face “unprecedented” risk from high wind gusts, storm surges plus torrential rain.
“Maximum caution is necessary, ” Ryuta Kurora, head of the JMA’s forecast unit mentioned on Saturday.
“It’s a very dangerous typhoon. ”
“The wind will be so fierce that will some houses may collapse, ” Kurora told reporters, furthermore warning of water damage and landslides.
So far, 2 . 9 million residents in Kyushu have been released with evacuation alerts, according to the government’s Open fire and Disaster Administration Agency, and Kagoshima officials said more than 8, 500 individuals were already in nearby shelters by Sunday morning.
The evacuation warnings call on people to move to protection or alternative accommodation that can withstand severe weather.
But they are not mandatory, and during past extreme weather events authorities have struggled to convince residents to consider shelter quickly enough.
Kurora urged people to evacuate prior to the worst of the thunderstorm arrived and cautioned that even in durable buildings residents will have to take precautions.
“HIGHEST CAUTION POSSIBLE”
“Please move into sturdy buildings just before violent winds begin to blow and keep away from windows even within sturdy buildings, ” he told a late night press conference.
By Weekend morning, bullet teach operations in the area had been halted, along with local train lines, plus NHK said a minimum of 510 flights had been cancelled.
“The southern part of the Kyushu region may see the type of violent blowing wind, high waves plus high tides that have never been experienced before, ” the particular JMA said Weekend, urging residents in order to exercise “the maximum caution possible. inch
On the ground, the Kagoshima prefectural recognized told AFP there were no reports so far of injuries or even structural damage yet conditions were going down hill.
“The rainfall and wind are getting stronger. The rain is so heavy that you cannot really see elaborate out there. It looks all white, ” he said.
At 9am local time, the typhoon was 80km southeast of Japan’s Yakushima island, and packing gusts up to 252kmh.
It is likely to make landfall in Kyushu on Weekend evening, before turning northeast and sweeping up across Japan’s main island via early Wednesday.
Japan is currently in typhoon season and faces around 20 such storms a year, routinely seeing heavy rains that cause landslides or flash floods.
In 2019, Typhoon Hagibis smashed directly into Japan as it managed the Rugby Planet Cup, claiming the lives of more than 100 people.
Annually earlier, Typhoon Jebi shut down Kansai Airport in Osaka, killing 14 people.
And in 2018, floods and landslides wiped out more than 200 people in western Japan during the country’s yearly rainy season.
Scientists say environment change is increasing the severity of storms and causing extreme weather for example heat waves, droughts and flash floods to become more frequent and intense.