Japan: Third typhoon in two months wreaks havoc – 8/16/2023 – World

The arrival of another typhoon in Japan, the second in a few days, caused destruction on the west coast of the country and left thousands of people without electricity. More than 240,000 people were instructed to seek refuge in safe places due to the risks of floods and landslides.

At least 26 people were injured in five western Japanese prefectures, according to local network NHK. One is a 60-year-old man who was hospitalized in critical condition after his home collapsed.

Typhoon Lan swept across the west of the country, home to major cities such as Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, and headed north. The hardest-hit town was Tottori, where authorities issued warnings to 182,000 people. Afterwards, the phenomenon lost intensity and was downgraded to a severe tropical storm.

At least 90,000 homes were left without electricity. The storm still impacted air traffic, and all flights at Kansai Airport, near Osaka, were suspended on Tuesday. In the country, more than 800 flights had to be cancelled. Train and bus services were also disrupted.

“There are lives in danger. Residents are in a situation where personal safety must be ensured,” said Satoshi Sugimoto of the Japan Meteorological Agency. The agency stated that the rains in the western region had already exceeded the average rainfall for the month of August and asked the population to take refuge in high areas due to the risk of flooding.

In a few hours, the city of Tottori recorded 483 millimeters of rain, and the city of Kagamino, 461.5 millimeters. Images transmitted by the local press show destroyed roads, roof tiles being ripped off by winds and overflowing rivers. In the face of the crisis, Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said it had set up dozens of shelters for residents in 11 prefectures across the country.

Popular tourist destinations including the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Universal Studios Japan in Osaka were closed on Tuesday. Sporting events were also suspended, including Koshien, a tournament that mobilizes thousands of schools and is the gateway for young people to professional baseball.

Typhoon Lan, coming from the Pacific Ocean, hit Japanese territory for the first time at 5 am this Tuesday local time (5 pm on Monday in Brasilia), in the department of Wakayama, about 600 km west of Tokyo, the capital. Power could be restored in part of the affected area, but 9,200 homes were still without electricity as of Wednesday, according to local operator Kansai Electric Power.

The storm occurs days after the passage of Typhoon Khanun. The phenomenon left one person dead and more than 200,000 homes without power earlier this month. Earlier, in July, the country had been impacted by Typhoon Doksuri, which punished China with the most intense rains in 140 years – at least 78 people died in the Asian giant.

Data from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the UN agency for climate issues, indicate that extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, landslides, storms and fires have more than tripled over the past 50 years as a result of global warming.

Asia was the most affected continent, accounting for more than 3,400 disasters in that period, responsible for almost 1 million deaths.