Typhoon Jangmi triggers evacuations before reaching Kanto
Japan’s weather agency says the year’s sixth typhoon will reach Tokai on Wednesday morning and Kanto later, after evacuation orders in Miyazaki and Kagoshima.
- Approximately 825,400 people in Japan's southwestern Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures were ordered to evacuate.
- The Japan Meteorological Agency issued warnings for high winds, heavy rain, and potential flooding as the typhoon was forecast to approach the Kanto region.
- An urgent flood warning for two rivers in Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, prompted the city government to issue a specific evacuation order.
- Ahead of its arrival in Kanto, the storm has already caused injuries in Okinawa, the cancellation of 280 flights, and the suspension of operations at 13 Toyota plants.
Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to move close to Japan’s central Tokai region on Wednesday morning before approaching the eastern Kanto region in the afternoon, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on Tuesday (June 2).
The sixth typhoon of the year was nearing the southern part of Kyushu in southwestern Japan on Tuesday afternoon.
The agency warned of stormy winds and high waves, while also urging caution over landslides, flooding in low-lying areas and swollen rivers caused by heavy rain.
Jangmi is expected to move eastwards over the Kanto region after Wednesday night and become an extratropical cyclone by Thursday afternoon.
In Nichinan, Miyazaki Prefecture, an urgent flood warning was issued on Tuesday afternoon for the Hiroto and Sakatani rivers.
The warning is the second-highest level in Japan’s five-tier alert system.
The Nichinan city government responded by issuing an evacuation order.
It was the first urgent warning issued since the Japan Meteorological Agency revised the alert system.
As of 7pm on Tuesday, the typhoon was about 80 kilometres east-southeast of Miyazaki city in southwestern Japan and moving northeast at 40 kilometres per hour.
Jangmi had a central pressure of 980 hectopascals.
Its maximum wind speed was 25 metres per second, with maximum instantaneous winds of 35 metres per second.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency under the internal affairs ministry said 15 people were slightly injured and six houses were partly damaged in Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost prefecture.
In Kyushu’s Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures, around 825,400 people were ordered to evacuate.
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways cancelled a combined 280 flights scheduled for Tuesday, mainly on routes to and from Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures.
Toyota Motor Corp. said it would suspend operations at 13 domestic plants from Wednesday morning, excluding its Miyata Plant in Fukuoka Prefecture in southwestern Japan.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
