Power cuts as storms cause chaos in Okinawa
Source: Agencies |
August 27, 2012, Monday
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THE strongest typhoon to hit Okinawa in several years lashed the southern Japanese island and surrounding areas yesterday, injuring four people and cutting off power to about 30,000 households.
Residents were told to stay indoors and warned that Typhoon Bolaven's powerful winds could overturn cars and cause waves of up to 12 meters.
The center of slow-moving Bolaven was expected to pass over the island last night, dumping as much as 500 millimeters of rain over a 24-hour period, weather officials said.
About 27,000 households on the island of Amami, north of Okinawa, were without electricity, and 3,100 households on Okinawa also lost power. Video footage from Naha, the prefectural capital, showed trees thrashed by high winds, some with broken branches, and largely empty streets.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said wind speeds near the center of the typhoon were about 180 kilometers per hour, with extremely strong gusts reaching 252kph. Those winds could knock over telephone poles and overturn cars, while waves around the island could top 12 meters, public broadcaster NHK warned.
Okinawa disaster authorities said four people were injured.
All domestic and international flights in and out of Naha Airport were canceled.
The typhoon was expected to continue into the East China Sea without losing much power and then into the Yellow Sea, possibly affecting southern coastal areas of South Korea by tomorrow, Japanese weather officials said.
More than half of the 50,000 US troops based in Japan are stationed in Okinawa. At Kadena Air Base, one of the biggest bases on the island, all shops and service facilities were ordered closed and movement around the base was kept to a minimum.
Residents were told to stay indoors and warned that Typhoon Bolaven's powerful winds could overturn cars and cause waves of up to 12 meters.
The center of slow-moving Bolaven was expected to pass over the island last night, dumping as much as 500 millimeters of rain over a 24-hour period, weather officials said.
About 27,000 households on the island of Amami, north of Okinawa, were without electricity, and 3,100 households on Okinawa also lost power. Video footage from Naha, the prefectural capital, showed trees thrashed by high winds, some with broken branches, and largely empty streets.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said wind speeds near the center of the typhoon were about 180 kilometers per hour, with extremely strong gusts reaching 252kph. Those winds could knock over telephone poles and overturn cars, while waves around the island could top 12 meters, public broadcaster NHK warned.
Okinawa disaster authorities said four people were injured.
All domestic and international flights in and out of Naha Airport were canceled.
The typhoon was expected to continue into the East China Sea without losing much power and then into the Yellow Sea, possibly affecting southern coastal areas of South Korea by tomorrow, Japanese weather officials said.
More than half of the 50,000 US troops based in Japan are stationed in Okinawa. At Kadena Air Base, one of the biggest bases on the island, all shops and service facilities were ordered closed and movement around the base was kept to a minimum.
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