Japan urges evacuations as 'unprecedented' super typhoon approaches (updated)

Kyushu Railway

17/09/2022 07:35

(Updates with details in 2nd-3rd paragraphs, travel disruptions
in 6th)
    TOKYO, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The Japan Meteorological Agency
urged residents to evacuate parts of the southern island of
Kyushu on Saturday, ahead of a large and powerful typhoon
expected to bring up to half a metre (20 inches) of rain when it
makes landfall on Sunday.
    Nanmadol, classified as a super typhoon by the U.S. Navy's
Joint Typhoon Warning Center, has the potential to be the most
destructive tropical storm to strike Japan in decades.
    Japan's weather agency said it may issue a "special warning"
for Kagoshima prefecture and other parts of Kyushu, Japan's
southernmost main island, as early as Saturday evening with the
possibility of high waves and heavy rains in the regions. It
would be the first such alert for any prefecture north of the 
Okinawa island chain, domestic media reported.
    "Unprecedented" storms and rainfall could strike the area,
JMA official Ryuta Kurora said at a televised press conference,
urging residents there to evacuate before it gets dark.
    Southern Kyushu could receive 500 millimetres of rain on
Sunday, while the central Tokai region could see 300
millimetres, the agency forecast.
    Kyushu Railway Co  9142.T  began halting some train lines on
Saturday ahead of wider suspensions on Sunday. Dozens of weekend
flights in the southern region have been canceled, broadcaster
NHK reported.
    Nanmadol, the 14th typhoon of the season, was near Japan's
southern Minami-Daito Island heading northwest at 20 km (12
miles) per hour on Saturday afternoon. Winds at the centre of
the storm are blowing at 198 km per hour (123 miles per hour),
gusting up to 270 kph, according to the JMA.
    The storm, equivalent in strength to a class 5 hurricane in
the Atlantic Ocean, is forecast to curve east and pass over
Tokyo on Tuesday before moving out to sea by Wednesday.
    Domestic broadcasters aired footage of strong winds and rain
are already lashing down on Japan's southern island chain of
Okinawa as the storm approached.

 (Reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by William Mallard
and Lincoln Feast.)
 ((rocky.swift@thomsonreuters.com;))