Typhoon Shanshan makes landfall; 3 dead, airline and train services disrupted in southern Japan

Japanese authorities on Thursday warned that a “life-threatening situation” was imminent for towns in Kyushu’s Oita prefecture and urged 57,000 people to take “live-saving actions”.

Three people were dead, one was missing, two were severely injured, and five suffered minor injuries because of the typhoon, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi was quoted as saying by Reuters. “As this typhoon is moving slowly, total amount of rain could be rather big,” Hayashi said.

Videos posted by public broadcaster NHK showed walls torn and window glass of buildings shattered in Miyazaki city in southern Kyushu and objects littered on the street and hanging from poles.

Key automakers including Toyoto and Nissan suspended operations in some of its domestic factories and chipmaker Renesas halted production at four factories on a temporary basis. Airline companies including ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines announced cancellation of more than 600 domestic flights and train services have been halted. There was no power supply to more than 250,000 households in seven prefectures yesterday afternoon, as per Kyushu Electric Power Co.

The storm is estimated to reach central and eastern regions including capital Tokyo during the weekend, as per the weather department in Japan. After Typhoon Ampil, Typhoon Shanshan has caused the most widespread damage in Japan.

With Reuters inputs