280,000 told to evacuate as typhoon hits Japan

The Japanese authorities advised 280,000 people to evacuate their homes as Typhoon Goni lashed southern Kyushu island and western Japan, bringing torrential rains and winds gusting at more than 180kmh.

 

The risk of landslides prompted officials in Yamaguchi prefecture to issue the warning yesterday, according to public broadcaster NHK.

 

The powerful storm, which killed at least 26 people in landslides and floods in the Philippines, hit south-western Kumamoto prefecture at about 6.00am, Japan’s weather agency said.

 

More than 20 people were injured as a result of the typhoon, and some flights and train services were also suspended.

 

Most of those injured suffered minor cuts from broken glass, a prefectural official said.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the typhoon was moving to the north, and forecast a maximum of 200mm of rain an hour.

 

Most regional railway operators halted their operations, while scores of flights at local airports were also cancelled.

 

Japan Airlines suspended 110 domestic flights and ANA Holdings cancelled 78.

 

International flights were unaffected, the airlines said.

 

China’s official Xinhua news agency said that the storm is expected to affect north-eastern China later in the week, after making landfall near the Russian and North Korean borders early last Thursday.

 

The storm could impact crops in the three north-eastern Chinese provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, Xinhua said, important soya bean and corn production bases.

 

Meanwhile, eight people are missing and feared dead after a major landslide hit a road in remote eastern Indonesia, an official reported yesterday.

 

Heavy downpours in an isolated mountainous region of Papua province triggered the landslide on Sunday, burying six construction workers and two bystanders under rock and rubble.

 

Papua police spokesman Patridge Renwarin said news of the incident did not reach the local authorities until Monday, when a rescue team was quickly assembled.

 

But bad weather prevented the police, the army and local officials from reaching the site of the landslide on Monday, with the effort to reach those buried resuming yesterday.

Courtesy of straitstimes.com

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