Tokyo - A powerful typhoon was bearing down on western Japan on
Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and lashing winds to large swaths of
the country.
Typhoon Krosa is projected to make landfall on Thursday morning,
according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Travellers were left stranded at the height of the summer holiday
season as this year's 10th typhoon caused the cancellation of 347
flights and many train services for Thursday, broadcaster NHK
reported.
Forecasters warned that the slow-moving typhoon could dump dangerous
amounts of rain in some regions in excess of 1.2 metres and urged
residents to stay vigilant against mudslides, swelling rivers and
high waves.
As of 8 pm (1100 GMT), Krosa was 180 kilometres east of Tanegashima
Island, near Kyushu, travelling north at 20 kilometres per hour. It
was recording maximum sustained winds of 108 kilometres per hour and
gusts of 144 kilometres per hour, the agency said.
The storm is expected to dump 1 metre of rain in Shikoku and 0.7
metres in the Tokai region by 6 pm on Thursday, the agency said.
In July 2018, torrential rains in western Japan triggered floods and
landslides, killing more than 220 people - the highest number of
deaths from a single weather event in three decades.
Meanwhile, a heatwave scorched areas along the Sea of Japan on
Wednesday, with the city of Joetsu posting this year's highest
temperature of 40.3 degrees Celsius.