High waves caused by Typhoon Lan break on the shores of Senjojiki, Shirahama town, Wakayama prefecture, Japan, August 14, 2023. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS
TOKYO — More than 800 flights were cancelled and tens of thousands of homes lost power as a slow-moving typhoon made landfall in western Japan early on Tuesday, prompting authorities to issue flood and landslide warnings, public broadcaster NHK said.
Approaching from the Pacific Ocean, Typhoon Lan made landfall at the southern tip of Wakayama prefecture, some 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Tokyo.
The typhoon, which followed closely on the heels of Typhoon Khanun during Japan’s peak Obon holiday season, lashed wide swathes of central and western Japan with heavy rains and powerful winds.
Power outages hit more than 21,000 households in central Mie prefecture, and thousands more in nearby prefectures, including Osaka, NHK said.
Anticipating the dangerous levels of winds and rains a day earlier, high-speed train operators had also planned suspensions of services affecting the area. Convenience store operator 7-Eleven shuttered more than a 100 stores.
Over the next 24 hours, the central Tokai region – home of Toyota Motor – was expected to get about 350 mm (13.8 inches) of rainfall, nearly three times the average rainfall for the month of August. Many factories close during the Obon holidays, when city-dwellers return to their ancestral homes.
Typhoon Lan had sustained winds of 150 kph (93 mph) and was moving northwest across the western part of the main island of Honshu as of 0000 GMT. It was forecast to reach the Sea of Japan by early Wednesday and continue north along the sea, according to Japan’s weather agency.