VIDEO: Typhoon Haishen hits Japan with high winds and power outages
High waves pound a fishing port in Amami city, Kagoshima prefecture, Japan. AP
Typhoon Haishen drew closer to Japan's southern mainland on Sunday, cutting power and prompting authorities to recommend evacuation and warn of potentially record rainfall, unprecedented wind, high tides and large ocean swells.
Authorities urged early evacuation for more than 100,000 households in the southern island prefecture of Okinawa and in Kagoshima, Kumamoto and Nagasaki on Kyushu, Japan's main southern island, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA).
"This typhoon is headed toward and may potentially make landfall in Kyushu, bringing record rains, winds, waves and high tides," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a meeting with cabinet ministers.
"I am asking that people exercise the utmost caution."
Trees on Yakushima, an island 100 km (60 miles) south of Kagoshima city could be seen shaking violently in strong winds and driving rain, in a post on Twitter.
Typhoon Haishen, categorised as "large" and "extremely strong", was expected to move through the Amami region of small islands near Kyushu that separate the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea in the afternoon.
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At 8:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday), Haishen was about 150 kilometres (93 miles) southeast of Amami Oshima Island, with gusts up to 252 km (157 miles) per hour.
The storm was forecast to head north and travel off the western coast of Kyushu — one of Japan's main islands — from the evening through early Monday before reaching South Korea, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Once the storm comes near inhabited islands, its violent winds might become strong enough to snap power poles and flip vehicles, meteorologists have warned.
More than 200,000 residents of Kyushu were advised by early Sunday to seek safety at shelters, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
Rather than going to designated local school schools and community centres, some residents have chosen to seek safety at local hotels to try and reduce the risk of coronavirus infections at crowded public shelters, according to local media.
The storm has forced the cancellation of 528 flights, according to national broadcaster NHK.
High waves pound the coast of the Kagoshima city in the southwestern island of Kyushu, Japan. AFP
Toyota said it would suspend operations at three plants in Kyushu until Monday evening, while other companies, including Canon and Mitsubishi Electric, reportedly planned to take similar measures.
Haishen also forced the Japanese coast guard to suspend its search for dozens of missing sailors from a cargo ship that sank in a separate storm, after two crew members were rescued.
The Gulf Livestock 1, carrying 6,000 cows and had 43 crew on board, issued a distress call Wednesday near Amami Oshima as Typhoon Maysak passed through the area.
But patrol ships have remained in the sea so that the search can resume after Haishen has left the region, a duty officer said.
Agence France-Presse
