Typhoon Shanshan has killed three people in southern Japan.
A violent typhoon has hit Japan, killing at least three people. Shanshan landed in Kagoshima prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu about 08:00 local time (23:00 GMT), according to the Japan Meteorologist Agency (JMA).
The organization has issued a rare "special warning" for the most intense storms, citing landslides, flooding, and widespread destruction. High winds of up to 252 km/h (157 mph) have been observed on the small island. A couple in their seventies and a man in his thirties died. They were part of a family of five whose home in Gamagori, central Japan, was carried away late Tuesday, before the typhoon made landfall.
Their other two family members, two women in their forties, were recovered following an all-night search, according to local station NHK. Some sections of Kyushu, which has a population of 12.5 million, are expected to get up to 600mm of rain over 24 hours. The island's utilities operator reported that around 255,00 households are now without electricity.
As severe rains lashed the island, videos online show enormous trees swaying, tiles blasted off residences, and debris tossed into the air. NHK reported that at least 39 persons were injured in the prefectures of Kagoshima and Miyazaki. Major automakers such as Toyota and Nissan closed their operations on Thursday, citing worker security and potential component shortages due to the typhoon.
Hundreds of aircraft to and from south Japan have been canceled. Some high-speed rail services have also been suspended. Local authorities in central Shizuoka prefecture on Japan's main island of Honshu published migration recommendations to 810,000 people earlier this week. An further 56,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes in Kagoshima, Kyushu, according to the fire and disaster management agency. JMA predicts that the storm are going to approach Japan's central and eastern regions, especially the capital Tokyo, over the coming days.
Extraordinary typhoon alerts, such as the one given for Shanshan, are issued in Japan in the event of extremely violent storms. The similar warning was issued in September 2022, as Typhoon Nanmadol neared Kyushu, the first for a region other than Okinawa. Shanshan follows Typhoon Ampil previously this month, which caused minor casualties and destruction but canceled hundreds of flights and trains. Previously, Tropical Storm Maria slammed Honshu island, causing record rainfall in northern Japan. Typhoons in the region are forming closer to coastlines, intensifying faster, and persisting longer on land as a result of climate change, based to a study published just recently.
