Typhoon Khanun causes one death and leaves 220,000 homes without electricity in Japan – Observer

More than 220,000 homes were without electricity this morning in the archipelago of Okinawa, in the extreme south of Japan, due to the passage of typhoon Khanun, which also caused the death of one person, advanced public television NHK.

Described as “very powerful” by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the typhoon passed close to the main island of Okinawa shortly after 09:00 (01:00 in Lisbon), bringing wind gusts of up to 180 km / h.

According to the local electricity utility, Okinawa Electric Power, about a third of homes in the Okinawa region were without power as of late this morning.

On Tuesday, the Okinawa authorities had appealed to more than 690,000 people who abandoned their homes and sought shelter in view of the approach of the Khanun. The appeal was also extended to other areas of Kagoshima in southwestern Japan.

According to NHK, a 90-year-old man died in the city of Ogimi after being trapped in a garage that collapsed on Tuesday night, likely due to strong winds.

The Japan Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 11 people were injured. The JMA also warned of the risk of flooding and landslides in parts of Okinawa’s main island.

More than 400 flights were canceled today to or from this popular summer tourist archipelago, affecting more than 65,000 passengers, NHK said. Many tourists were stranded since Tuesday at the airport in Naha, the capital of Okinawa.

We couldn’t find a hotel and we don’t know when we can book a return flight,” visitor Minako Kawakami told the local newspaper Okinawa Times.

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways predicted that more than 74,000 passengers in total could be affected by flight cancellations.

Khanun is heading west-northwest towards eastern China, where it is expected to arrive later this week.

Earlier this week, Philippine authorities had already issued warnings against possible flooding 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.