- Saudi crown prince says no Israel ties without Palestinian state
- Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits
- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- Man City blunted by 'giant' Inter in Champions League stalemate
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- Ukraine official claims Russian advance in Kursk has been 'stopped'
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450
- US Fed makes aggressive rate cut, weeks before election
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first reduction since 2020
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Struggling Roma replace sacked icon De Rossi with Ivan Juric
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- McIlroy outlines threats to golf peace deal
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- Three dead, 100 wounded in new wave of Lebanon device explosions
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ |
Thousands in shelters as Japan braces for dangerous typhoon
Thousands of people were in shelters in southwestern Japan on Sunday as powerful Typhoon Nanmadol churned towards the region, prompting authorities to urge nearly three million residents to evacuate.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has issued a rare "special warning" for the Kagoshima region in southern Kyushu prefecture -- an alert that is issued only when it forecasts conditions seen once in several decades.
By Sunday morning, 25,680 households in Kagoshima and neighbouring Miyazaki were already without power, while regional train services, flights and ferry runs were cancelled until the passage of the storm, local utilities and transport services said.
The JMA has warned the region could face "unprecedented" danger from high winds, storm surges and torrential rain.
"Maximum caution is required," Ryuta Kurora, head of the JMA's forecast unit said on Saturday.
"It's a very dangerous typhoon."
"The wind will be so fierce that some houses might collapse," Kurora told reporters, also warning of flooding and landslides.
So far, 2.9 million residents in Kyushu have been issued with evacuation warnings, according to the government's Fire and Disaster Management Agency, and Kagoshima officials said over 8,500 people were already in local shelters by Sunday morning.
The evacuation warnings call on people to move to shelter or alternative accommodation that can withstand extreme weather.
But they are not mandatory, and during past extreme weather events authorities have struggled to convince residents to take shelter quickly enough.
Kurora urged people to evacuate before the worst of the storm arrived and warned that even in sturdy buildings residents would need to take precautions.
- 'Highest caution possible' -
"Please move into sturdy buildings before violent winds start to blow and stay away from windows even inside sturdy buildings," he told a late night press conference.
By Sunday morning, bullet train operations in the area were halted, along with regional train lines, and NHK said at least 510 flights had been cancelled.
"The southern part of the Kyushu region may see the sort of violent wind, high waves and high tides that have never been experienced before," the JMA said Sunday, urging residents to exercise "the highest caution possible."
On the ground, a Kagoshima prefectural official told AFP there were no reports so far of injuries or structural damage but conditions were deteriorating.
"The rain and wind are getting stronger. The rain is so heavy that you cannot really see what's out there. It looks all white," he said.
At 9:00 am (0000 GMT), the typhoon was 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of Japan's Yakushima island, and packing gusts up to 252 kilometres per hour.
It is expected to make landfall in Kyushu on Sunday evening, before turning northeast and sweeping up across Japan's main island through early Wednesday.
Japan is currently in typhoon season and faces around 20 such storms a year, routinely seeing heavy rains that cause landslides or flash floods.
In 2019, Typhoon Hagibis smashed into Japan as it hosted the Rugby World Cup, claiming the lives of more than 100 people.
A year earlier, Typhoon Jebi shut down Kansai Airport in Osaka, killing 14 people.
And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the country's annual rainy season.
Scientists say climate change is increasing the severity of storms and causing extreme weather such as heat waves, droughts and flash floods to become more frequent and intense.
L.Janezki--BTB