Jakarta, IndonesiaSentinel.com — Three people were killed in southwestern Japan on Thursday, August 29, 2024, as Typhoon Shanshan slammed into Kagoshima Prefecture, bringing heavy rain and powerful winds that disrupted air travel and left hundreds of thousands of households without power.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi confirmed the fatalities, noting that one person remains missing, two are seriously injured, and five others suffered minor injuries due to the storm.
“Because this typhoon is moving slowly, the total rainfall could be quite substantial,” Hayashi said during a press conference, according to Reuters.
Kyushu Electric Power Co. reported that more than 250,000 households across seven prefectures experienced power outages as of 9:00 a.m. local time on Thursday.
Airlines, including ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines, canceled more than 600 domestic flights, while train services were suspended across much of Kyushu.
Major automakers such as Toyota and Nissan halted operations at some or all of their domestic plants in response to the storm.
With wind gusts reaching up to 123 miles per hour (198 kilometers per hour), Typhoon Shanshan made landfall near the city of Satsumasendai on the southwestern island of Kyushu on Thursday morning.
Authorities warned that the storm could become one of the strongest to hit the region. Local governments have issued evacuation orders for millions of residents across several prefectures.
Footage from public broadcaster NHK showed torn walls, shattered windows, and debris scattered across streets in the city of Miyazaki in southern Kyushu.
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The typhoon is expected to linger over Kyushu for several days before moving toward central and eastern Japan, including Tokyo, by the weekend.
Typhoon Shanshan is the latest in a series of severe weather events to hit Japan, following Typhoon Ampil earlier this month, which also caused power outages and forced evacuations.
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