Japan Typoon Shanshan – latest: One killed in landslide as nearly a million evacuated

Meteorologists are struggling to chart the expected path of Typhoon Shanshan, which has been moving particularly slowly and whose route is dependent on a number of other weather systems at play in the region.

James Reynolds, who chases and documents tropical storms, told the Japan Times that he first drove to Osaka earlier this week to prepare for a then-forecast landfall in the Shikoku region. But after two days, he travelled to Tokyo and flew instead to Kagoshima Prefecture on Wednesday morning.

“Shanshan has been one of the bigger outliers among all the storms I’ve tracked in terms of the continued changes in forecast and how the computer weather models are handling it,” Mr Reynolds told the outlet.

Thousands of people are watching a livestream of a famous palm tree in Kagoshima, nicknamed “Yasshi”, as it is buffeted by Typhoon Shanshan.

“Yasshi is located next to a resort hotel and became famous for surviving major typhoons,” Dr Jeffrey J Hall, a lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies, said on X, adding: “Hang in there, Yasshi! You can survive this!”

While the livestream has currently lost its connection, thousands still appear to be watching it in the hopes of monitoring the palm tree’s fate.

The hotel previously made a towel commemorating Yasshi’s survival over typhoons in the past two years, according to Dr Hall.

More than 76,000 buildings were without power in Kyushu, the Japan Times reported earlier, citing Kyushu Electric.

Around 66,000 of those outages were reported in the Kagoshima Prefecture, while some 9,000 were in Miyazaki Prefecture.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency has warned that the risk of disaster could increase suddenly as the storm progresses.

Officials urged residents, especially older adults, to take shelter immediately if they feel unsafe.

“To protect your life and the lives of your loved ones, please flee to evacuation areas specified by local authorities and secure your safety,” said Satoshi Sugimoto, an official at the weather agency, speaking at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Japan Railway companies said most bullet trains and local train services were operating normally on Wednesday, but many on the island of Kyushu would be suspended on Thursday.

Similar steps may be taken on the main island of Honshu throughout Sunday.

Postal and delivery services have been also suspended in the Kyushu region, and supermarkets and other stores announced plans to close early.

An aerial view shows the search and rescue operation at a landslide site caused by a heavy rain due to the approach of Typhoon Shanshan in Gamagori, in Japan’s central Aichi Prefecture, hundreds of miles northeast of where the storm’s heaviest winds are currently battering Kyushu.

The Japanese government has cancelled its annual earthquake drills planned for Sunday to free up disaster response resources to deal with Typhoon Shanshan, the Associated Press reports.

The warm, humid air around the typhoon and a separate high-pressure system has caused heavy rain in the central Japanese city of Gamagori, where a landslide buried a house with five people inside.

Four of them were rescued but one person later died, while workers were searching for the fifth person, according to the city’s disaster management department.

On the southern island of Amami, where the typhoon passed, one person was knocked down by a wind gust while riding a motorcycle, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.

Satellite imagery shared by Colorado State University’s Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) has this view of Typhoon Shanshan as it impacts southern Japan.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency has issued its highest “special warning” for violent storms, waves and high tides in parts of the Kagoshima Prefecture.

Such warnings are issued where typhoons are due to hit with a strength experienced in that region of Japan only once every few decades, according to the agency.

The warnings indicate the “possibility that a major disaster prompted by (the typhoon) is extremely high,” the agency’s chief forecaster Satoshi Sugimoto was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.

In neighbouring Miyazaki Prefecture, footage broadcast by NHK TV showed roof tiles being blown off houses, broken windows and felled trees.

“Our carport roof was blown away in its entirety. I wasn’t at home when it happened, but my kids say they felt the shaking so strong they thought an earthquake happened,” a local resident in Miyazaki told NHK, according to AFP, adding: “I was surprised. It was completely beyond our imagination.”