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One person has been confirmed dead and dozens injured after powerful Typhoon Nanmadol made landfall in Japan with high winds and record rainfall, forcing millions of people to take refuge.
The storm officially made landfall at about 7pm local time on Sunday near Kagoshima, in the southwestern part of the country, with winds up to 150mph, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
“We need to remain highly vigilant for heavy rains, gales, high waves and storm surges,” a JMA official told a news conference.
Several areas in southwestern regions, including the western Kyushu island and the main island of Honshu, are facing extreme rainfall, power cuts, waterlogging and falling trees, risking the lives of millions of people.
A river in Kyushu’s Miyazaki prefecture overflowed, flooding fields and roads, footage from state broadcaster NHK showed. Another video showed a riverside house hanging over a torrent, roofs ripped off buildings and billboards toppled.
One man was killed after his car was submerged in a flooded river, reported NHK. Firefighters were also trying to determine if another man in his 40s was inside a hut that was buried by a landslide. At least 69 people were also injured, the state media reported.
About 340,000 households, most of them in Kyushu, were without electricity early on Monday, the trade ministry said.
Kyushu Railway Co said it had halted operations on Kyushu and Japan Airline Co Ltd and ANA Holdings, which provides air transport services, cancelled about 800 flights.
Raging waters flow along the Sendai River in the wake of Typhoon Nanmadol in Isa, Kagoshima prefecture on Monday
(AFP via Getty Images)
Typhoon Nanmadol is Japan’s 14th typhoon of the season, but one of the biggest storms to hit the country in years and has sparked a rare “special warning” from authorities.
A road is submerged under water in Saito, Miyazaki Prefecture in Japan on Monday
(AP)
The storm was centred on Yamaguchi prefecture, on the western tip of Honshu, early morning on Monday and was heading northeast at about 15kmph along the north coast, the JMA said.
The storm would track the coast to the north of Honshu into Tuesday before moving out over the Pacific, the agency projected.
Japanese Self-Defence Force soldiers conduct search and rescue operation at a landslide site caused by Typhoon Nanmadol in Mimata Town, Miyazaki prefecture on Monday
(via REUTERS)
Prime minister Fumio Kishida delayed his departure to New York, where he is due to deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), until Tuesday to monitor the impact of the storm, said reports.
Additional reporting by agencies
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