- More than 200,000 households without electricity in 7 prefectures.
- 5.2 million people were warned to evacuate across the country.
- Japanese automakers and semiconductor companies halt production.
Millions of people were ordered to evacuate their homes as Typhoon Shanshan lashed southwestern Japan on Thursday with strong winds and torrential rain, knocking out power, paralyzing air traffic and forcing major factories to close.
At least three people have died so far and dozens have been injured in what authorities have warned could be one of the strongest storms ever to hit the region.
Major Japanese automakers have halted operations at all domestic plants, while some have temporarily halted production at their factories due to the storm.
Funeral home worker Tomoki Maeda was in a hearse when the typhoon hit the southern Kyushu city of Miyazaki, shattering windows and toppling electrical wires and the walls of some buildings.
“I have never experienced such a strong wind or tornado in my 31 years of life,” Maeda said. Reuters.
The typhoon, packing wind gusts of around 180 kilometers per hour (112 mph) – strong enough to topple moving trucks – was near the city of Unzen in Nagasaki Prefecture at 3 p.m. and moving north, the weather agency said.
More than 200,000 households in seven prefectures were without power by afternoon, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co. The utility earlier said there was no impact on its Sendai nuclear power plant in the city of Satsumasendai, where the storm made landfall Thursday morning.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a news conference that three people had died and one was missing in typhoon-related incidents, while the disaster management agency said 45 had been injured.
After hovering over Kyushu for the next few days, the storm is expected to approach central and eastern regions, including the capital Tokyo, around the weekend, the weather agency said.
More than 5.2 million people have been issued evacuation notices nationwide, authorities said, mainly in Kyushu but also in some areas of central Japan, which have been hit by heavy rains that triggered a landslide on Wednesday.
Madoka Kubo, who runs a hotel in the historic riverside town of Hitoyoshi in Kumamoto Prefecture, said: Reuters that all of its reservations had been cancelled and that it was now housing elderly people who had been evacuated from nearby areas.
Airlines have already announced the cancellation of nearly 800 flights. Train services have been suspended in many areas of Kyushu, while hundreds of bus and ferry services have also been suspended, according to the Ministry of Transport.
Typhoon Shanshan is the latest severe weather system to hit Japan, following Typhoon Ampil, which also prompted power outages and evacuations, earlier this month.
