Typhoon Shanshan brings torrential rains, travel turmoil across Japan (updated)

Renesas Electronics

30/08/2024 02:56

(Adds resident quotes in paragraphs 3-4, 14-16, updates on
evacuation orders in paragraphs 9-10, Sony factory shutdown in
paragraph 12, travel cancellations paragraph 13)
    By Tim Kelly and Irene Wang
       FUKUOKA, Japan, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Typhoon Shanshan
deluged large parts of Japan with torrential rain on Friday,
prompting warnings for flooding and landslides hundreds of miles
from the storm's centre, halting travel services and shutting
production at major factories.  
    In the southwestern region of Kyushu, where what authorities
say could be one of the strongest storms ever to hit the region
made landfall on Thursday, residents in Fukuoka city were
hunkering down, with streets quiet and shops shuttered.
    Sheltering at the entrance of a rain-lashed, deserted
shopping mall near the city's train station, university student
Kokoro Osoegawa, 21, was struggling to get home.
    "There are no trains because of the typhoon so my parents
are coming to pick me up. I stayed at a friend’s house, and then
came here. I thought there would be some trains but there are
none," she said. 
    "I’ve never experienced all the trains stopping before." 
    At least three people have been killed and 78 injured in
storm-related incidents in recent days, according to the
disaster management agency.
    Bringing gusts of up to 50 metres per second (180 km per
hour/112 mph), strong enough to blow over moving trucks, the
typhoon was near the coastal city of Kunisaki in Oita Prefecture
at 8:45 a.m. (2345 GMT) and moving northeast, according to
authorities.
    Around 125,000 households in seven prefectures were without
power in Kyushu, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co. 
    But the warm and moist air flowing around the typhoon have
also brought heavy rains in areas far from the main body, which
authorities say is concerning given its slower than expected
movement across the country. 
    Notices advising residents to be ready to evacuate have been
issued to more than 4 million people across the country, mainly
in the hard-hit Kyushu area but as far away as the capital Tokyo
and nearby Yokohama. Authorities in Yokohama said there were
risks of landslides in some areas due to heavy rain. 
    But, as of Thursday, only some 30,000 had been evacuated,
mainly in Kyushu, disaster management minister Yoshifumi
Matsumura said.
    After moving from Kyushu, the storm was expected to approach
the central and eastern regions, which includes Tokyo, around
the weekend, the weather agency said.
    Toyota  7203.T  suspended operations in all of its domestic
plants due to the storm, while other automakers Nissan  7201.T 
and Honda  7267.T , semiconductor firms Renesas  6723.T  and
Tokyo Electron  8035.T , and electonics giant Sony  G758.T  also
temporarily halted production at some factories.
    Airlines, including ANA Holdings  9202.T  and Japan Airlines
 9201.T , have announced cancellations of hundreds of domestic
and some international flights. Many ferry and rail services,
including the bullet train between Tokyo and the central city of
Nagoya, were suspended on Friday morning.
    Lin Yue-Hua, a 60-year-old tourist from Taiwan, had her
flight from Fukuoka back home cancelled on Thursday. She was
told to book another flight but did not know when she could
return. 
    "We were very worried and upset because we didn’t know what
to do," she said. 
    "We stayed one more day in Japan. Then we saw it in the news
that our flight from Taiwan couldn’t land in Japan after flying
around the area for about 40 minutes and it flew back to Taiwan.
So we have been busy trying to find our way home.”
    Typhoon Shanshan is the latest harsh weather system to hit
Japan, following Typhoon Ampil, which also led to blackouts and
evacuations, earlier this month.

 (Reporting by Tim Kelly and Irene Wang in Fukuoka; Writing by
John Geddie; Editing by Stephen Coates)
 ((John.Geddie@thomsonreuters.com; +81 80 7264 2833;))