A powerful typhoon slammed into southern Japan on Thursday, injuring three people, disrupting air and land traffic and cutting power to thousands of houses.
Packing winds of up to 144km/h and bringing heavy rains, typhoon Usagi landed on the coast of Kyushu Island shortly before 6pm local time from the Pacific, the meteorological agency said.
Three people were so far injured in the storm, which comes just two weeks after Japan was hit by a killer typhoon.
”A gust suddenly slammed a door shut, chopping off the left index finger of a 49-year-old woman,” said Nobuyoshi Namikawa, a crisis management official with the Miyazaki prefectural government on Kyushu.
A 52-year-old carpenter broke his right wrist as he fell from the roof of a house under construction while a 42-year-old man suffered head wounds when he fell 3m from the roof of his house, the official said.
”We are saying to ourselves, ‘Again?’,” Namikawa said.
About two weeks ago, three people were killed in Typhoon Man-yi, one of the most powerful typhoons to hit Japan in decades. A fourth person remains unaccounted for.
”The typhoon isn’t as big as the previous one but it’s strong. As it is compact, we have alerted residents to be careful about gusts and rain, which can intensify suddenly as the typhoon approaches,” he said.
Kyushu Electric Power said 8 000 houses were without power on Thursday.
Nearly 500 people evacuated their homes voluntarily, according to public broadcaster NHK.
”I live alone and am feeble. It’s safer if I stay here,” an elderly woman told the network at a shelter in Kagoshima prefecture on Kyushu.
Television footage showed big waves lashing the island’s coasts, fallen signboards and a heap of bicycles blown together by violent winds.
Usagi — which means rabbit in Japanese — was moving north-west at a rate of 30km/h, weakening slightly as it moved toward land.
It was expected to veer toward the country’s most populous island of Honshu later in the week.
Airlines had cancelled more than 160 domestic flights, affecting 15 000 passengers, according to Kyodo News agency. Railway companies said train services were partially suspended in Kyushu. — AFP
