'Unprecedented' rainfall to hit Japan as super typhoon arrives, residents evacuated
India Today
Residents of Japan's Kyushu were evacuated as typhoon Nanmadol, which has been classified as a super typhoon, is expected to cause "unprecedented" storms and rainfall.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a special typhoon warning on Saturday for Kagoshima prefecture on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's main islands, as the region braces for a powerful and potentially destructive super typhoon.
The warning came after the weather agency earlier in the day urged residents to evacuate parts of Kyushu, ahead of the typhoon Nanmadol, expected to bring up to half a metre (20 inches) of rain when it makes landfall on Sunday.
Nanmadol, classified as a super typhoon by the U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center, has the potential to be the most destructive tropical storm to strike Japan in decades.
The 14th typhoon of the season was near Japan's southern Minami-Daito Island heading northwest at 20 kph (12 mph) on Saturday afternoon. Winds at the centre of the storm were blowing at 198 kph (123 mph) and gusting up to 270 kph (167 mph), according to the JMA.
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"Unprecedented" storms and rainfall could strike the area, JMA official Ryuta Kurora said at a televised news conference, urging residents there to evacuate before it gets dark.
Southern Kyushu could receive 500 mm (20 inches) of rain on Sunday, while the central Tokai region could see 300 mm (12 inches) the agency forecast.
