Powerful typhoon slams Japan with violent winds, heavy rain
A powerful typhoon that officials warned could bring record rains and gusts strong enough to flip cars slammed into southern Japan on Sunday, prompting authorities to urge millions to seek shelter.
Typhoon Haishen has weakened somewhat as it neared Japan's mainland, and shifted further west out to sea, but it remained a "large" and "extremely strong" storm.
After lashing a string of exposed, remote southern islands, it neared Japan's Kyushu region on Sunday evening, with authorities issue evacuation advisories for more than seven million residents.
The weather agency urged peoples to exercise "most serious caution" for possible record rain, violent winds, high waves and surging tides.
"Record-level rainfall is expected. It may cause landslides or it could cause even large rivers to flood," said Yoshihisa Nakamoto, director of the forecast division at the Japan Meteorological Agency, during a televised briefing.
He added that surging tides could cause widespread flooding in low-lying areas, particularly around river mouths.
As the storm passed over several remote islands earlier Sunday, strong winds bent palm trees and sheets of rain lashed the area.
At an emergency cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that flooding and landslides were a possibility.
Authorities issued evacuation orders for 1.8 million people in the affected area, with 5.6 million people issued lower-level advisories, national broadcaster NHK said.
Evacuation orders in Japan are not compulsory, though authorities strongly urge people to follow them.
Local officials asked people to avoid crowded shelters where possible, to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections, and some shelters were forced to turn people away in order to have enough space to maintain social distancing.
In some places, residents were checking into local hotels to comply with evacuations advisories.
Hotel Polaris in Shibushi city, Kagoshima, said all 73 of its rooms were sold out for the weekend.
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