Sep 17 2022 19:56
On Saturday, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued an exceptional warning for Kagoshima Prefecture on Japan’s southernmost island of Kyushu, as the region awaited the arrival of a powerful and potentially destructive typhoon.
The warning came after the agency urged residents, earlier today, to evacuate parts of the southern island of Kyushu, ahead of the arrival of Typhoon Nanmadol, which is expected to bring more than half a meter of rain when it makes landfall on Sunday.
The US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center classified Typhoon Nanmadol as a strong typhoon, likely to be the most destructive tropical storm in Japan in decades.
According to the center, the 14th typhoon of this season approached the island of “Minami-Daito” in southern Japan, heading to the northwest, at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour on Saturday afternoon, and the winds accompanying it reached 198 kilometers per hour and may reach 270 kilometers per hour.
Agency official Ryota Korura said in a televised press conference that the area is likely to experience storms and rain “unprecedented” and urged residents to evacuate their homes before dark.
Up to 500 mm of rain could fall on Kyushu on Sunday, while the central Tokai region could see as much as 300 mm of rain.
Local media reported that the exceptional typhoon warning was the first of its kind for a province north of the Okinawa chain of islands.
Kyushu Railway Corporation began suspending some train lines on Saturday, before a wider suspension of its flights on Sunday.
NHK reported that hundreds of weekend flights were canceled in the southern region, causing confusion among passengers traveling during the long weekend.
Source: Reuters
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