Typhoon Shanshan - one of the strongest typhoons to come ashore in Japan in decades - dumped torrential rain across southern regions Thursday, with at least three people reported dead, one person missing and warnings of life-threatening flooding and landslides.
The Japan Meteorological Agency reported the storm’s maximum sustained winds hit 252 kilometers per hour when it made landfall early Thursday near the city of Satsumasendai in Kagoshima Prefecture on the southwestern island of Kyushu. The winds quickly dropped to about 182 kms/ph as the storm moved inland.
More than 200,000 households in seven prefectures were without power in the afternoon, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co. The utility earlier said there was no impact at its Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Satsumasendai city.
City officials in Gamagori, in Aichi Prefecture, reported that three people had died, and two others were injured when a landslide caused by heavy rain hit their house. The Japan Times newspaper reports at least 94 people were injured in as many as ten prefectures as the storm moved across Kyushu.
At a Tokyo news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi called on people to be on alert for additional landslides and flooding.
The Japan Times reported Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with ministers in related fields on Thursday, urging officials to do what they can to urgently respond to the typhoon, especially since it will be affecting the nation for several days.
The city of Miyazaki on the eastern side of the island was particularly hard hit. Japanese broadcaster NHK reported the city received over 160 reports of damage by midday Thursday, mostly from strong winds.
Train service and nearly 800 airline flights have been cancelled, and Factories have been shut down across the country.
Some areas reported more than 700 mm of rain over the past 48 hours. Forecasters say the heavy rain is expected to continue over much of the nation over the next several days.
Japan’s meteorological agency reports the storm is expected to approach central and eastern regions by late Friday, including the capital, Tokyo, around the weekend – but the typhoon’s path is proving difficult to predict.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
