2 yıl önce

'Like never before': Japan issues rare warning ahead of powerful typhoon

The warning is issued only when it forecasts conditions seen once in several decades.

Reuters

2.9 million residents in Kyushu have been issued with evacuation warnings

Thousands of people have taken to shelters in southwestern Japan as powerful Typhoon Nanmadol churned towards the region.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a rare "special warning" on Sunday for the Kagoshima region in southern Kyushu prefecture - an alert that is issued only when it forecasts conditions seen once in several decades.

The agency warned of gales and high waves "like never experienced before", and authorities have urged nearly three million residents to evacuate.

"Maximum caution is required," Ryuta Kurora, head of the JMA's forecast unit said on Saturday. "It's a very dangerous typhoon".

"The wind will be so fierce that some houses might collapse," Kurora told reporters, also warning of flooding and landslides.

The 14th typhoon of the season, classified as a super typhoon by the US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center, could bring record rainfall, the JMA said, warning of the risk of rivers overflowing and landslides.

Southern Kyushu could receive 500 mm of rain and wind gusts of up to 250 km per hour, while the central Tokai region could see 300 mm of rain, the agency forecast.

By Sunday morning, 25,680 households in Kagoshima and neighbouring Miyazaki were already without power, while regional train services, flights and ferry runs were cancelled until the passage of the storm, local utilities and transport services said.

Railway operators have cancelled trains in the region with convenience store chain Seven-Eleven Japan temporarily shutting around 950 stores.

Evacuation warnings

So far, 2.9 million residents in Kyushu have been issued with evacuation warnings, according to the government's Fire and Disaster Management Agency, and Kagoshima officials said over 8,500 people were already in local shelters by Sunday morning.

The evacuation warnings call on people to move to shelter or alternative accommodation that can withstand extreme weather.

But they are not mandatory, and during past extreme weather events authorities have struggled to convince residents to take shelter quickly enough.

Kurora urged people to evacuate before the worst of the storm arrived and warned that even in sturdy buildings residents would need to take precautions.

On the ground, a Kagoshima prefectural official said there were no reports so far of injuries or structural damage but conditions were deteriorating.

"The rain and wind are getting stronger. The rain is so heavy that you cannot really see what's out there. It looks all white," he said.

The storm is forecast to curve east and pass over Japan's main island of Honshu early next week before moving out to sea by 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.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies