Japan's eastern region orders evacuations as Typhoon Ampil approaches (updated)

ORIENTAL LAND

16/08/2024 08:38

(Updates with latest information, adds Iwaki City paragraph 6,
retail business 13)
       TOKYO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Japan grounded hundreds of
flights and urged tens of thousands of people to evacuate in the
eastern parts of the country on Friday, as a strong typhoon
caused power blackouts in the middle of a major summer holiday
week.
    Typhoon Ampil, categorised as "very strong" by the Japan
Meteorological Agency (JMA), was situated off the Pacific coast
of Japan's main island at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT). The agency has two
higher categories - "very strong" and "violent".
    The typhoon is expected to get close to the eastern region
of Kanto, which includes the capital Tokyo, on Friday evening.
    Ampil has wind speeds of 45 metres per second with maximum
gust of 60 metres per second (216 kph/134 mph), according to the
JMA. 
    "The Kanto region is expected to experience fierce winds
that could cause injuries from flying debris or even overturn
trucks in motion," the JMA warned on its website.
    Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan
issued an evacuation order for about 323,000 residents, telling
them to evacuate as the likelihood of heavy rain was increasing
through Saturday morning.  
    Mobara City in Chiba Prefecture east of Tokyo also placed an
evacuation order for about 18,500 residents, while dozens of
other cities opened special evacuation centres and advised
voluntary evacuation.
    More than 2,500 households in the Kanto area were still
experiencing blackouts in the afternoon, the Tokyo Electric
Power Co  9501.T  said.
    ANA Holdings  9202.T  said it will cancel 281 domestic
flights and 54 international flights slated to leave or arrive
on Friday, affecting nearly 70,000 passengers. 
        The airline later said it will cancel 32 domestic
flights into or out of Tokyo's Haneda airport on Saturday,
disrupting travel plans for about 2,300 passengers. 
    Japan Airlines  9201.T  is planning to cancel 281 domestic
and 38 international flights on Friday, affecting about 50,000
passengers.    
    All the high speed "Shinkansen" bullet train services
between Tokyo and Japan's industrial heartland of Nagoya are
also cancelled.
    Restaurants, department stores and amusement parks were
either closed or curtailed business hours. Tokyo Disneyland,
operated by Oriental Land  4661.T , moved up closing time to 3
p.m. from 9 p.m. local time on Friday.     

 (Reporting by Mariko Katsumura and Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong)
 ((Mariko.Katsumura@thomsonreuters.com;))