Typhoon Trami slams Japan, cancelling flights and trains in Tokyo
TOKYO -- A powerful typhoon ripped through Japan on Sunday, forcing cancellations of flights and trains, including in the Tokyo area as authorities warned of strong winds and torrential rain. Farms and homes in Miyazaki on the southern main island of Kyushu were flooded as Typhoon Trami swept across southwestern Japan.
Evacuation orders were issued for tens of thousands of people over a widespread area, including more than 250,000 people in the city of Tokushima on the island of Shikoku, the national broadcaster NHK reported. At least 51 people were injured in southern Japan, it said, and the Reuters news agency reported one death on Monday.
As of Sunday evening, Typhoon Trami was located approximately 500 miles north-northeast of Tokyo, moving northeast at 55 mph. Maximum-sustained winds were 85 mph with gusts to 125 mph.
Trami was expected to continue to weaken as it moves northeast across mainland Japan and into the colder waters off the coast of Hokkaido. Despite slowly weakening, Trami will continue to bring damaging winds to much of central and northern Honshu as well as eastern Hokkaido. Wind gusts over 120 mph will be possible, which would cause major damage, while flooding rainfall and mudslides will also remain a concern
Many flights were canceled at major airports throughout Japan, including Tokyo's Narita and Haneda. The storm destroyed power lines on the southern islands of Okinawa on Saturday.
Bullet trains and other train lines were shutting down while the storm passed. Tokyo's train lines announced they were shutting down after 8 p.m. on Sunday.
The typhoon is projected to hit regions ravaged earlier this month by Typhoon Jebi, which caused landslides and floods and temporarily shuttered Kansai International Airport. The strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years, Jebi caused 11 deaths in and around Osaka.
The airport also was closed for this latest typhoon.
In July, heavy rain in western Japan killed 221 people, setting off landslides and flooding.