Powerful Typhoon Chaba barrels toward Japanese islands
Tokyo - Residents in southern Japanese islands are preparing for torrential rain and strong winds on Monday as Typhoon Chaba bears down on the region.
Authorities warned of mudslides, flooding and high waves as the season's 18th typhoon is projected to hit islands in the southern Japanese archipelago overnight.
All the public schools on Okinawa's main island were closed on Monday while dozens of flights in the region were cancelled.
The typhoon could dump rainfall of up to 80 millimetres per hour in some areas of the island, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
As of 8 am (2300 GMT Sunday), the eye of the storm was 290 kilometres south of Naha city on Okinawa, travelling north-north-west at 25 kilometres per hour, with maximum sustained winds of 180 kilometres per hour and gusts of 252 kilometres per hour, the agency said.
In late August, Typhoon Lionrock pounded north-eastern Japan, leaving more than 20 people dead. It was the first typhoon that made landfall on the north-east since records began in 1951, the agency said.
- DPA
