BSS
  04 Sep 2022, 12:51
Update : 04 Sep 2022, 15:06

Powerful typhoon lashes Japan's Okinawa islands through weekend, evacuation ordered

TOKYO, Sept. 4, 2022 (BSS/Xinhua) - Powerful typhoon Hinnamnor arrived in the
south of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa on Saturday, resulting in orders
for residents of three municipalities to evacuate.

As of Saturday evening, the typhoon, the 11th of the season, had caused power
outages for more than 3,000 households in Miyakojima and Ishigaki in Okinawa
Prefecture, while one woman was slightly injured in Naha.

The three Okinawa Prefecture municipalities of Miyakojima, Ishigaki and
Taketomi issued evacuation orders for all residents on Saturday, with the
Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warning of strong winds and high waves for
Japan's southernmost prefecture.

As of 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, Hinnamnor was heading north at 15 kilometers per
hour from about 80 kilometers southeast of Ishigaki Island. It had a central
pressure of 955 hectopascals, with maximum sustained winds of 40 meters per
second near its center and maximum instantaneous gusts of 60 meters per
second.

The JMA warned that the typhoon will also lead to unstable atmospheric
conditions far from its course as it brings warm humid air to fronts from
eastern to western Japan. Torrential rain is predicted for large parts of
Japan through Monday, with the agency warning of landslides, flooding and
rising rivers.

 The typhoon is expected to move north into the East China Sea from Sunday
through Monday, and approach the Kyushu region in the country's southwest on
Tuesday, according to the JMA. China on Saturday raised its emergency
response for flood and typhoon control to level III, as Hinnamnor approaches
the country's eastern coastal areas and heads for landfall as a super
typhoon.