Japan asks 8 million to flee their homes as Typhoon Nanmadol makes landfall
Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall in Japan late Sunday, hours after authorities asked 8 million people in southern and western parts of the country to evacuate. The storm brought ferocious winds and record rainfall that killed at least two people, injured dozens and left hundreds of thousands without electricity early Monday.
One of the most significant storms to hit the country in years, Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall near Kagoshima city before slamming the western island of Kyushu and then moving onto the main island of Honshu Monday morning, Reuters reported.
The storm packed gusts of up to 145 mph and had already dumped up to 19 inches of rain in less than 24 hours on parts of southwestern Kyushu, Taipei Times relayed.
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More than 8 million people in southern and western Japan were ordered to evacuate before Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall, according to the state broadcaster NHK World-Japan. The outlet reports that nearly 8 million people, from about 3.7 million households, were affected by a Level 4 alert in parts of the Kyushu, Shikoku and Chugoku regions.
A man was killed after his car was caught in a flooded river, and 82 people had been injured, NHK added. According to Japan Times, the person in the car was one of the two people who died in the storm.
About 9 million people had been told to evacuate their homes as Nanmadol has been categorized as a super typhoon by the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Centre, which is applied to storms with sustained wind speeds of 150 mph or more.
At least 20,000 people spent the night in shelters in Kyushu’s Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, where the authorities had issued a rare “special warning.”
About 340,000 households, mostly in Kyushu, were without electricity early Monday.
Train services, ferries and about 800 flights have been canceled.
The storm is forecast to dump heavy rain on large parts of Honshu on Tuesday and may lead to floods and landslides, the country’s Meteorological Agency said, issuing a flooding advisory for Tokyo and adjacent Kanagawa Prefecture, according to Japan Times.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is scheduled to deliver a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, has delayed his travel until Tuesday to monitor the impact of the storm, according to Reuters.
Nanmadol is the third blow from a tropical cyclone in less than a month for Japan, AccuWeather reports, explaining that Super Typhoon Hinnamnor slammed Okinawa late last month into early September and Typhoon Muifa made landfall over Ishigaki Island last week.
