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Typhoon injures 17 Japanese
13/07/2007 19:18 - (SA)
Tokyo - A powerful typhoon lashed Japan's southern island of Okinawa on Friday, cutting power to nearly 100 000 homes, grounding hundreds of flights and injuring at least 17 people.
Described as one of the strongest typhoons in memory, Man-yi whipped up waves of 12m off the subtropical island's coasts and turned over trucks in roads.
The typhoon is expected to smash into mainland Japan's southern island of Kyushu on Saturday and may then hit the Tokyo region, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
In Okinawa, men trying to clear the damage clung to trees to withstand the violent wind and rain, which was so forceful it uprooted trees and knocked over large fences, television footage showed.
At least one is in a serious condition
"This is one of the biggest typhoons we've experienced in Okinawa," a local hotel employee said by telephone.
"We islanders are very nervous. It's fairly dangerous to go out or even drive a car as trash and broken trees are flying in the air," he said.
Seventeen people have been injured in Okinawa since the typhoon approached on Thursday and at least one is in a serious condition, according to the prefectural government.
The storm cut off electricity to 99 400 households in the Okinawa archipelago.
"The winds are so strong. Our staff are on standby at branch offices, waiting for the winds to calm down," a spokesperson at Okinawa Electric Power said.
Raising fears of landslides
Among the injured was a 48-year-old man who fell 6m when he was fixing a television antenna on his roof, officials said.
Authorities in Kagoshima prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu advised more than 8 760 people or 3 500 households to evacuate.
Heavy rain was also reported in parts of the Japanese mainland, with 79 millimetres drenching the city of Hyuga on Kyushu island in one hour alone, raising fears of landslides.
Authorities in Miyazaki prefecture, next to Kagoshima, issued evacuation advice to about 2 390 people and 78 houses were flooded.
370 flights cancelled
"There may be a serious disaster as the typhoon is approaching just after a stretch of rain," said Yasunori Nakatake, an official in Saito city in Miyazaki.
"We warned our residents to be on alert as winds and rain are expected to be much stronger from now on," said Nakatake.
Man-yi, described as "extremely strong" by the meteorological agency, is packing wind gusts of up to 252km/h and moving north at 30km/h.
More than 370 flights have been cancelled, reported public broadcaster NHK.
The typhoon may cross the Tokyo region on Sunday morning, said the meteorological agency, warning of torrential rain, flooding and landslides.
Man-yi was named after a strait that is now a reservoir in Hong Kong.
Japan and other nations in the western Pacific are hit each year by lethal typhoons. Last year, Typhoon Shanshan killed nine people in Japan and injured 300.
- AFP
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