Typhoon Nanmadol leaves record rainfall, causes havoc in southern Japan
Tokyo, Sep 19 (EFE).- Typhoon Nanmadol has left some 300,000 homes without power, record rainfall and many rivers at risk of overflowing during its path through the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, according to public broadcaster NHK.
At 8.40 am local time (23:45 GMT Sunday) on Monday, Nanmadol was heading north over Fukuoka prefecture, in the north of Kyushu, with maximum wind gusts of about 180 kilometers per hour.
Miyazaki prefecture in southern Kyushu has already accumulated 1,000 millimeters of rainfall, an unprecedented level, according to NHK.
The slow pace with which the storm is advancing, barely 15 kilometers per hour, and its large size, have resulted in days of heavy rainfall in most of Japan and, in addition to Miyazaki, alerts have been activated for rivers in danger of overflowing in Oita and Kumamoto in Kyushu, and Yamaguchi in the southwest of the main island of Honshu.
Nanmadol forced the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on Saturday to activate for the first time the highest typhoon alert for one of the four main islands of the archipelago, an alert that is maintained by violent wind, torrential rainfall and high waves that the JMA considers to be unprecedented.
At least 43 people have been injured and millions of people have been ordered to evacuate in Kyushu, Chugoku and Shikoku regions.
The authorities are also recommending residents of the most affected areas, especially Kyushu, to take shelter in safe places – elevated above the ground, with solid construction – or to go to evacuation centers if this is not possible.
Residents of the areas to which the storm is approaching have been asked to stay inside their homes.
The storm has already forced the cancellation of more than 700 flights scheduled for Monday, and bullet train services are widely suspended.
The JMA predicts that throughout Monday the typhoon will move in a northeasterly direction over the prefectures of Yamaguchi and Tottori in Honshu, and that it will travel through much of the western Japanese coast during the night. EFE
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