The Japanese Meteorological Agency issued a “special warning” for the department of Kagoshima, in the south of the big island of Kyushu. Thousands of people have descended into shelters.
Le Monde with AFP
In southwest Japan, the authorities recommended nearly three million residents to evacuate the premises on Sunday, September 17, while the powerful Typhon Nanmadol was heading for the region. Thousands of people have taken refuge in shelters.
The Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a “special warning” for the department of Kagoshima, in the south of the big island of Kyushu, to warn the inhabitants against the high risks of strong bad weather.
Sunday morning, 25,680 households in Kagoshima and the neighboring department of Miyazaki were already deprived of electricity, while regional rail services, ferry flights and crossings were canceled, according to public services and services Local transport.
The JMA warned that the region could be faced with an “unprecedented” danger due to strong winds, raging waves and torrential rains. “The greatest caution is required,” said Ryuta Kurora, head of the JMA forecast unit on Saturday. “It is a very dangerous typhoon”. “The wind will be so violent that some houses could collapse,” Kurora told journalists, also warning against floods and landslides.
Until now, 2.9 million inhabitants of Kyushu have received pressing evacuation recommendations, according to the government agency for the management of fires and disasters, and the officials of the Kagoshima department have indicated that more 8,500 people had already taken refuge in shelters on Sunday morning.
m. Kurora urged residents to evacuate the premises before the worst arrives and warned that even in solid buildings, they had to take precautions.
trains and canceled planes
Sunday morning, the circulation of high -speed trains in the region was suspended, as well as the regional trains lines, and the public television channel NHK indicated that at least 510 flights had been canceled.
In the field, a head of the Kagoshima department said to the France-Presse agency that no injured or major damage had been reported for the moment, but that the conditions deteriorated. “The rain and the wind are increasingly strong. The rain is so strong that you cannot really see what is outside. Everything seems white,” he said.
At 9 am local (1 hour in Paris), the typhoon was 80 km south-east of the small Japanese island in Yakushima and the wind was blowing at 252 km/h. He should touch the ground in Kyushu, further north, Sunday evening, before turning northeast and sweeping the main island of Japan, Honshu, until Wednesday morning.
The typhoon season culminates from August to September in Japan where it is marked by heavy rains likely to cause sudden floods and deadly landslides.
In 2019, the Typhoon Hagibis fell on Japan in the middle of the rugby world cup, causing the death of more than 100 people. A year earlier, the Typhon Jebi had led to the closure of Kansai airport in Osaka, killing 14 people. And in 2018, floods and landslides had left more than 200 dead in western Japan during the rainy season.
According to scientists, climate change increases the intensity of storms and extreme weather phenomena.