Typhoon Khanun passes through Japan, two dead and 60 injured – Observer

Typhoon Khanun caused two deaths and 60 injuries in the Okinawa archipelago, in southern Japan, canceling hundreds of flights and leaving this Thursday around 156,000 homes without electricity. A 90-year-old man died in Ogimi City after getting stuck in a garage which collapsed on Tuesday night, likely due to strong winds, reported public television NHK.

Typhoon Khanun leaves one dead, 220,000 homes without electricity in Japan

An 89-year-old woman also died in the city of Uruma, victim of a fire caused by candles used to light the house after a power outage. The typhoon still left around 60 injuredamong them a person who broke his arm trying to deflect a tree down by the wind and a man who suffered injuries when the glass of his house shattered.

According to the local electricity utility, Okinawa Electric Power, about 24% of households, about 156,000 households, in the Okinawa region were without power this morning. The company admitted to being pessimistic about the work to restore electricity supply due to the storm.

Numerous air connections to and from Naha, Miyako, Shin-Ishigaki and Shimojishima, Okinawa’s main airports, suffered on Thursday cancellations that affected 314 flights and around 40,000 passengers. Khanun, the sixth typhoon of the season in the Pacific and classified as “very strong” by the Japan Meteorological Agency, was, at 10:45 am (1:45 am in Lisbon), about 230 kilometers southwest of the island of Kumejima, in the archipelago of Okinawa.

More than 31,000 people evacuated in Beijing due to heavy rains

Despite the worst being over, the Japanese authorities urged the population to to continue to be careful due to the risk of storm surges, high winds, high waves and landslides linked to the typhoon. Khanun is moving in a west-northwest direction slowly, with wind gusts of up to 216 kilometers per hourtowards the east of China, according to Japanese meteorological authorities.

In northern Taiwan, authorities announced this Thursday the closure of schools and public services in cities such as the capital Taipei and New Taipei, Keelung and Yilan, advanced the Taiwanese news agency CNA. Taiwan’s meteorological authorities warned on Wednesday that Typhoon Khunan’s passage through the north of the island could to the fall of up to 80 millimeters of rain within a period of 24 hours.

Earlier this week, Philippine authorities had already issued warnings against possible floods and landslides due to the influence of Khanun, at a time when the country is still recovering from the passage of Typhoon Doksuri, which caused at least 25 deaths.

Six dead in the Philippines as Typhoon Doksuri weakens as it heads toward southeast China