BFF-25 Powerful typhoons approach already hard-hit western Japan

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BFF-25

TYPHOONS-JAPAN

Powerful typhoons approach already hard-hit western Japan

TOKYO, Aug 21, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) — Japan’s weather agency said Tuesday it
has been monitoring two typhoons that are approaching the Japanese
archipelago and has warned of heavy downpours, gusty winds and high waves
across many parts of the country.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Typhoon Soulik was
located about 110 km east of Amami Oshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture and
moving at a speed of 25 kph with an atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals
at its center, at 5:00 p.m. local time.

Weather officials said Typhoon Soulik has been traveling in a
northwesterly direction in the Pacific Ocean and will likely skirt southern
Kyushu and the Amami Islands from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning.

The JMA has warned that the typhoon will not lose its power as it moves
across stormy seas to its west and while it may not make direct landfall on
Kyushu, the southern part of the region will see around 400 mm of rain by
Wednesday noon.

The Amami region, the JMA said, will likely receive as much as 300 mm of
rain, while the Shikoku region could see downpours of as much as 250 mm.

The Amami region has already felt the effect of the typhoon’s strong
winds, with some 8,000 homes having their power knocked out, according to
local media reports.

Strong winds of up to 216 kph will continue to pound the Amami region
through Wednesday, the weather agency said, and waves of up to 11 meters are
expected in the southern Kyushu and Amami regions, warned the JMA.

In addition, both the Tokai and Kinki regions are also expected to receive
heavy downpours, the agency has warned.

Typhoon Cimaron, for its part, is currently moving across the Pacific
south of Tokyo and is forecast to make landfall in western Japan on Friday.

The western region has already suffered from a powerful earthquake and
devastating torrential downpours recently, the latter of which killed 220
people in July.

The JMA said that as of 3:00 p.m. local time, Cimaron was moving in a
northwesterly direction at a speed of 30 kph and is packing gusts of up to
180 kph with an atmospheric pressure of 970 hectopascals at its center.

The agency said the typhoon will likely strengthen as it bears down on
western Japan before it makes landfall.

BSS/XINHUA/IJ/1908 hrs