A powerful typhoon was bearing down on western Japan yesterday, bringing heavy rain and lashing winds to large swathes of the country.
Typhoon Krosa is projected to make landfall today morning, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Travellers were left stranded at the height of the summer holiday season as this year’s 10th typhoon caused the cancellation of 347 flights and many train services for today, broadcaster NHK reported.
Forecasters warned that the slow-moving typhoon could dump dangerous amounts of rain in some regions in excess of 1.2m and urged residents to stay vigilant against mudslides, swelling rivers and high waves. As of 8pm, Krosa was 180km east of Tanegashima Island, near Kyushu, travelling north at 20km per hour.
It was recording maximum sustained winds of 108km per hour and gusts of 144km per hour, the agency said.
The storm is expected to dump 1m of rain in Shikoku and 0.7m in the Tokai region by 6pm today, the agency said. In July 2018, torrential rains in western Japan triggered floods and landslides, killing more than 220 people — the highest number of deaths from a single weather event in three decades. Meanwhile, a heatwave scorched areas along the Sea of Japan yesterday, with the city of Joetsu posting this year’s highest temperature of 40.3C.
A man makes his way amid strong wind by typhoon Krosa in Miyazaki, Japan.
