FUKUOKA, Aug 30 — Typhoon Shanshan deluged large parts of Japan with torrential rain today, prompting warnings for flooding and landslides hundreds of miles from the storm's centre, halting travel services and shutting production at major factories.
In the southwestern region of Kyushu, where what authorities say could be one of the strongest storms ever to hit the region made landfall yesterday, residents in Fukuoka city were hunkering down, with streets quiet and shops shuttered.
Sheltering at the entrance of a rain-lashed, deserted shopping mall near the city's train station, university student Kokoro Osoegawa, 21, was struggling to get home.
"There are no trains because of the typhoon so my parents are coming to pick me up. I stayed at a friend’s house, and then came here. I thought there would be some trains but there are none," she said.
"I’ve never experienced all the trains stopping before."
At least three people have been killed and 78 injured in storm-related incidents in recent days, according to the disaster management agency.
Bringing gusts of up to 50 metres per second (180 km per hour), strong enough to blow over moving trucks, the typhoon was near the coastal city of Kunisaki in Oita Prefecture at 8.45 am local time and moving northeast, according to authorities.
Around 125,000 households in seven prefectures were without power in Kyushu, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co.
But the warm and moist air flowing around the typhoon have also brought heavy rains in areas far from the main body, which authorities say is concerning given its slower than expected movement across the country.
Notices advising residents to be ready to evacuate have been issued to more than four million people across the country, mainly in the hard-hit Kyushu area but as far away as the capital Tokyo and nearby Yokohama. Authorities in Yokohama said there were risks of landslides in some areas due to heavy rain.
Toyota suspended operations in all of its domestic plants due to the storm, while other automakers Nissan and Honda, semiconductor firms Renesas and Tokyo Electron, and electonics giant Sony also temporarily halted production at some factories.
Airlines, including ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines, have announced cancellations of hundreds of domestic and some international flights. Many ferry and rail services, including the bullet train between Tokyo and the central city of Nagoya, were suspended this morning.
Typhoon Shanshan is the latest harsh weather system to hit Japan, following Typhoon Ampil, which also led to blackouts and evacuations, earlier this month.
— Reuters
