Typhoon Shanshan hits Japan with torrential rain, strong winds By Reuters

By Tim Kelly

FUKUOKA, Japan (Reuters) – Typhoon Shanshan brought torrential rain to large parts of Japan on Friday, with warnings of flooding and landslides hundreds of miles from the storm’s center as many transport services ground to a halt and factories closed .

In the southwestern region of Kyushu, where what authorities say could be one of the strongest typhoons ever to hit the region made landfall on Thursday, residents of the city of Fukuoka were hanging on, with streets quiet and shops closed.

At the main station, Motoki Tanimura, a 39-year-old employee at a manufacturing company, arrived in the city late Thursday night for a work trip but feared she would not be able to return home to Osaka.

“The path of this typhoon keeps changing, making it unpredictable, so it’s hard to get updates on the shipping situation. I plan to go back on Saturday, but I’m not sure if I’ll make it,” she said.

At least three people have been killed so far and 78 injured, according to the disaster management agency.

Packing gusts of up to 50 meters per second (180 km per hour/112 mph), strong enough to blow over moving trucks, the typhoon was near the coastal city of Kunisaki in Oita Prefecture at 8:45 a.m. ( 2345 GMT) and was moving northeast, according to authorities.

About 125,000 households in seven prefectures were without power in Kyushu, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co.

But the warm, moist air flowing around the typhoon also brought heavy rain to areas far from the main body, which authorities say is a concern given its slower-than-expected movement across the country.

Notices advising residents to be prepared to evacuate were issued for millions of people across the country, mainly in the hard-hit Kyushu area, but also as far away as Yokohama, Japan’s second-largest city, adjacent to the capital Tokyo. Authorities there said there was a risk of landslides due to heavy rains.

After hovering over Kyushu on Friday, the storm was expected to approach the central and eastern regions, which include Tokyo, around the weekend, the weather agency said.

Toyota (NYSE: ) suspended operations at all of its domestic plants due to the storm, while other automakers Nissan (OTC: ) and Honda (NYSE: ) and semiconductor firms Renesas, Tokyo Electron and Rohm temporarily halted production at some plants.

Airlines including ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines have already announced hundreds of flight cancellations, while many train, bus and ferry services in Kyushu have also been halted, according to the transport ministry.

Typhoon Shanshan is the latest severe weather system to hit Japan, following Typhoon Ampil, which also caused power outages and evacuations, earlier this month.