Two million people in Japan were told on Saturday to seek shelter before Typhoon Nanmadol hits, national broadcaster NHK said, after the weather agency issued a rare “special warning” about the powerful storm.
NHK reported that level four evacuation instructions – the second highest – had been put in place for people in Kagoshima, Kumamoto and Miyazaki in the southern region of Kyushu.
The move came after Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued its highest warning for the Kagoshima region, a warning that comes when forecasting conditions seen only once every decades.
This is the first typhoon-related special warning issued outside the Okinawa region since the current system began in 2013.
In the early hours of Saturday, Typhoon Nanmadol was classified as “violent” in the agency’s main category, causing gusts of up to 270 kilometers as it hovered about 200 kilometers northeast of Minami Daito Island, which is part of a series of remote islands that form the Okinawa region
On Sunday, the typhoon is expected to approach or make landfall in Kagoshima Prefecture, and head north the next day, before heading toward Japan’s main island. “There are risks of unprecedented storm surges, high waves, storm surges and record rains,” said Ryuta Kurora, head of the Japan Meteorological Agency’s forecasting unit. “Extreme caution is advised,” he said, urging residents to leave their homes. “It is a very dangerous typhoon.”
“The winds will be so strong that some houses could collapse,” said Kurora, who also warned of the risk of flooding and landslides.
Evacuation reports urge people to move to alternative shelters or homes that can withstand extreme weather conditions. But these warnings are not mandatory, and during previous extreme weather events, authorities have struggled to convince residents to take shelter quickly enough.
Kurora said residents should take precautions even in strong buildings. “Please take shelter in sturdy buildings before high winds start blowing and stay away from windows, even in strong buildings,” he said.
Japan is currently in typhoon season and experiences about 20 such storms per year. In 2019, Typhoon Hagibis hit Japan when it hosted the Rugby World Cup, killing more than 100 people.
A year earlier, Typhoon Jebi closed down Osaka Airport in Kansai, killing 14 people. And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the country’s annual rainy season.
Source: DN
