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Disaster-hit Japan braces for powerful typhoon
TOKYO, July 28, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A powerful typhoon hurtled towards Japan
on Saturday, prompting local authorities to issue early evacuation orders,
with western areas recently devastated by floods and landslides in the
storm’s crosshairs.
Typhoon Jongdari, packing winds of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) an
hour, is forecast to make landfall on the country’s main island on Saturday
night or early Sunday, according to Japan’s Meteorological Agency.
TV footage showed high waves smashing onto rocks and seawalls on the
coastline in Shimoda, southwest of Tokyo, and trees buffeted by strong winds
and heavy rain.
The storm, currently some 250 kilometres south of Tokyo, is expected to
barrel towards the western Chugoku region Sunday, where record rainfall
earlier this month unleashed flooding and landslides, killing around 220
people and leaving more than 4,000 survivors still living in temporary
shelters.
The weather agency warned of heavy rain, landslides, strong winds and high
waves, and urged people to consider early evacuation.
“We want people especially in the downpour-hit regions to pay close
attention to evacuation advisories,” meteorological agency official Minako
Sakurai told reporters.
The western city of Shobara in Hiroshima prefecture issued an evacuation
order to some 36,400 residents as a precautionary measure, officials said.
“Although it has not rained here, we are urging people to evacuate before
it gets dark,” Masaharu Kataoka, a city official, told AFP.
TV footage showed workers and residents hurriedly piling up sand bags to
build temporary barriers against potential floods. “It’s going to deal a
double punch,” a resident in Okayama told public broadcaster NHK, referring
to the recent killer downpours and the incoming typhoon.
“We are seriously worried,” he said.
More than 370 domestic flights have been cancelled so far because of
Typhoon Jongdari, while ferry services connecting Tokyo with nearby islands
were also cancelled due to high waves, news reports said.
The flooding in the Chugoku region was Japan’s worst weather-related
disaster in decades, and many residents of affected areas are still living in
shelters or damaged homes.
“We are fully ready 24 hours a day to evacuate residents,” Tadahiko
Mizushima, an official of Okayama prefecture in Chugoku, told AFP.
“We are paying special attention to the areas where restoration of river
banks is under way as it would be the first heavy rain since the disaster.”
Officials are particularly cautious after the deadly downpours because many
people did not heed evacuation orders and became trapped. Some critics said
the orders were issued too late.
“We are afraid that people may not be able to evacuate due to strong wind
or floods blocking evacuation routes,” Hiroshima governor Hidehiko Yuzaki
told reporters.
“I would like people to evacuate in advance so that they can save their
lives,” Yuzaki said.
Japan is now in typhoon season, and is regularly struck by major storm
systems during the summer and autumn.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1310 hrs