200,000 without electricity after typhoon in Japan

At 7 p.m. local time, Nanmadol moved over the main island of Kyushu with full force. The city of Kagoshima was near the center of the storm, according to the country’s weather agency.

Wind speeds of 65 meters per second were measured, and the storm had already dumped 500 millimeters of rain in parts of the region in less than a day.

According to public services company NHK, authorities have urged seven million people to seek shelter. However, evacuation is not mandatory, and in previous severe weather events, authorities have struggled to persuade residents to take cover quickly enough.

“It is dangerous to evacuate in the middle of the night. Please seek shelter while the light is still out,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged on Twitter.

The vision does not exist

The JMA issued a “special warning” before the storm, which is extremely rare.

The weather deteriorated rapidly during the evening. Officials in Kagoshima said there was no visibility in the heavy rain.

– It’s raining in a way we’ve never seen before in areas hit by the storm, said JMA President Hiro Kato.

So far, however, the reported damages are small. A glass arcade wall was shattered by the wind in Kanuya City. And in the same county, an elderly woman was slightly injured when she fell, according to NHK.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways said hundreds of domestic flights were canceled and more were expected as the storm moved northeast.

Trains and buses in the affected areas were also canceled on Sunday.

Storm Nanmadol, known as a typhoon or severe tropical cyclone, is expected to shift to the northeast and reach Tokyo early Wednesday.

Typhoon season has just begun in Japan, and the country is hit by about 20 such storms annually. The country is repeatedly exposed to torrential rains that have caused landslides or floods.

Corrected: In an earlier version, there was an incorrect statement about the number of people who lost power.