Typhoon Shanshan made heavy landfall in Kagoshima prefecture on Thursday, bringing strong gusts and heavy rain, disrupting air traffic and cutting power to over a quarter of a million households. The storm is believed to have killed at least three people in southwest Japan.
Due to the storm, major manufacturers including Nissan and Toyota ceased operations in some or all of their domestic factories.
The typhoon, which had gusts of up to 55 meters per second (198 km/h/123 mph), made landfall on Thursday morning close to Satsuma Sendai city, which is situated in the southwest island of Kyushu in the nation, according to the weather service.
Millions of people in the area have been ordered to evacuate as local governments have issued orders for the storm, which authorities said may be among the strongest ever to hit the area.
Three people were dead, one was missing, two were severely injured, and five suffered minor injuries because of the typhoon, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
“As this typhoon is moving slowly, the total amount of rain could be rather big,” Hayashi told a regular news conference.
Footage from public broadcaster NHK showed walls torn and window glass of buildings broken in Miyazaki city in southern Kyushu, with objects scattered on the street or hanging from utility poles.
More than 250,000 households in seven prefectures are experiencing power outages as of 9:00 a.m. on Thursday (0000 GMT), according to Kyushu Electric Power Co.
After hovering over Kyushu for the next few days, the storm is expected to approach the central and eastern regions, including the capital Tokyo, around the weekend, the weather agency said.
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