Nearly 1 million people in Japan were ordered to evacuate, and Toyota shuttered all its factories Wednesday afternoon as the country braced for Typhoon Shanshan to approach the mainland, with authorities warning that it could produce a large-scale disaster.
Japanese officials issued rare emergency warnings for the powerful storm as it churned toward the country’s southwest, bringing torrential rain and hurricane-force winds.
The emergency warnings were issued for storms and high waves in Kagoshima prefecture. They are the highest category of warnings possible in Japan and are usually only issued once every few decades, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. With a risk of tornadoes in the prefecture Thursday morning, the agency cautioned people to pay attention to the sky and move into sturdy buildings. The storm was moving north Thursday morning near southern Kyushu, one of Japan’s main islands, according to the meteorological agency. It may make landfall in Kyushu by Friday, the agency said. But Shanshan’s slow pace means it will lash some areas with relentless rain for hours, elevating threats of flooding. In southern Kyushu, there was a risk of record-breaking strong winds, high waves, high tides and heavy rain, the agency warned.
Authorities warned that wind speeds could strengthen and topple some homes, and that the rain could cause flash flooding and landslides. Authorities issued evacuation orders for about 990,000 people across southern, western and central Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday. Toyota announced that it would pause production at all 14 of its Japan factories overnight, starting Wednesday evening, to protect the safety of its workers. Shiro Tachimoto, a company representative, said the company would reassess Thursday morning whether to keep the factories closed. In Aichi prefecture in central Japan, a man and a woman died after a landslide hit their family’s house, the public broadcaster NHK reported Thursday.
Japan Airlines said it had canceled some Wednesday flights. All Nippon Airways, the country’s largest airline, said it had canceled some Friday flights.
Japan’s high-speed rail network, the Shinkansen, suspended some trains Wednesday.
The powerful storm had sustained winds of up to 109 mph Thursday, equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane, according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center. In some cities in central and eastern Japan, up to 10 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period from Tuesday into Wednesday.