- Natural disasters might come to Japan soon
- The disaster has reportedly already brought heavy rains to parts of Japan
- Locals and officials are already prepared for extreme situations
Natural disasters might come to Japan soon
Japan warned on Wednesday that an extremely strong typhoon approaching the main southern island of Kyushu will cause unusually severe storms.
Typhoon Shanshan, with wind gusts of up to 252 km/h and heavy downpours, has prompted car industry giant Toyota to halt production at all its plants in the country.
Government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that Shanshan is expected to approach Kyushu on Thursday and could make landfall. Kyushu has a population of around 12.5 million people.
The disaster has reportedly already brought heavy rains to parts of Japan
Late on Tuesday, a wall of mud, rocks and other debris swept away a house with five family members inside in Gamagori, in central Aichi Prefecture. The whereabouts of three persons are unknown.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, 500 mm of rain is expected to fall on the southern part of the island in the 24 hours ending Thursday morning and 600 mm in the 24 hours ending Friday morning.
Locals and officials are already prepared for extreme situations
Local governments have issued evacuation advisories to thousands of people in the central Shizuoka prefecture of Honshu Island and in Kagoshima in Kyushu.
Japan Airlines has canceled 172 domestic flights and six international flights on its schedule for Wednesday and Thursday. Meanwhile, ANA has cancelled 219 domestic flights and four international flights.
For its part, Kyushu Railway announced that it would suspend Shinkansen high-speed train services between Kumamoto and Kagoshima starting Wednesday evening and warned of possible further disruption.
Based on ELTA reports
