Authorities in Japan are evacuating more than two million people and issuing warnings for floods and landslides as Typhoon Mekhhala approaches the region.
Torrential rains and strong winds from the typhoon, which is currently a tropical storm, are also battering Taiwan, forcing authorities to shut down parts of the island.
Japan is bracing for at least two typhoons from the Pacific Ocean and the stronger one, Mekkhala, is expected to make landfall over the weekend, according to the national weather agency. A stationary seasonal rain front was being fed with warm and moist air, it noted, causing intense rainfall, particularly in western regions.
Mekkhala was located off the coast of Okinawa’s Kume island as of 11am Friday, moving at 15km an hour, the agency said.
It approached Kagoshima prefecture’s Amami region on Friday and could move towards Kanto on Saturday, where Typhoon Higos was also likely to make landfall.
Authorities had ordered roughly 2.2 million people across 13 prefectures in the Kinki and Kyushu regions to evacuate as of 7am on Friday, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said.
They also cancelled over 200 flights and suspended dozens of train services, the land ministry said, adding that concerns about heavy rainfall, landslides and flooding had led to the shutdown of many expressways.
The highest emergency level of 5 was issued in Kyoto’s Seika town after locals reported a landslide in the morning.
There was a possibility of strong storms across eastern Japan, the weather agency warned. Rainfall was also expected to intensify on Saturday in the Tokai and Kanto regions due to Higos’s movement further northward off Japan’s southern coast.
In Taiwan, heavy rainfall has been lashing the southern regions of Kaohsiung, Tainan and Pingtung. In parts of largely rural Pingtung, about 3.2ft of rain has fallen since Thursday.
The governments of the three regions have closed offices and schools for Friday. In Tainan, flooding has also forced the closure of a section of the island’s main north-south railway line.
In the northern city of Hsinchu, home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker TSMC, heavy rain forced the closure of offices and schools from noon.
TSMC said it had taken measures across its Taiwan facilities to prepare for the rain and that its factories were operating normally.
Rain is forecast to continue over Taiwan for at least the next week, though it will gradually ease. Precipitation is not all bad news for Taiwan, which relies on the traditional summer and autumn typhoon season to fill its reservoirs after what are typically dry winters.
