Strong storm lashes Japan with torrential rains, winds

Tokyo, Aug. 30: A strong storm lashed southern Japan with torrential rain and strong winds Thursday, causing at least three deaths as it started a crawl up the length of the archipelago and raised concerns of flooding, landslides and extensive damage.

Tropical storm Shanshan made landfall Thursday morning as a powerful typhoon on the southern island of Kyushu and then gradually lost strength, though it was still forecast to bring strong winds, high waves and significant rainfall to most of the country, particularly on Kyushu.

About 60 centimetres (nearly 2 feet) of rain fell in parts of Miyazaki prefecture on Kyushu, swelling rivers and threatening floods, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. That 24-hour total was more than the average rainfall for all of August, it said.

By late afternoon Thursday, the storm was moving north at 15 kph (9 mph) and its winds had weakened to 108 kph (67 mph). It is “no longer a powerful typhoon,” the agency said.

Shanshan ripped through downtown Miyazaki city, knocking down trees, throwing cars to the side in parking lots and shattering windows of some buildings. The prefectural disaster management task force said 40 buildings were damaged.

NHK public television showed a swollen river in the popular hot spring town of Yufu in Oita prefecture, just north of Miyazaki, with muddy water splashing against a bridge.

At least 50 people were injured across Kyushu, about half of them in Miyazaki. Some were injured by being thrown to the ground by the storm on their way to shelters, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

Nearly a quarter of a million households were without power across Kyushu, most of them in Kagoshima prefecture, Kyushu Electric Power Co. said.

About 20,000 people took shelter at municipal community centres, school gymnasiums and other facilities across Kyushu, according to prefectural reports. (AP)