Photo/Illutration A satellite image of Typhoon No. 10 as of the morning of Aug. 28 (Captured from the Japan Meteorological Agency website)

As powerful Typhoon No. 10 approaches southern Kyushu, the Japan Meteorological Agency on Aug. 28 issued emergency warnings for wind storms and high waves for Kagoshima Prefecture, calling for the maximum alert possible.

Additionally, an emergency warning for storm surges was issued for four municipalities in the prefecture at 4:20 p.m.

The agency also said it could issue a heavy rain emergency warning for Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures.

“The maximum alert is required because unprecedented levels of storms and record-breaking rainfall is expected,” an official told a news conference.

The JMA is calling for evacuations in the light of day before the rain and winds intensify.

Typhoon No. 10 is expected to approach southern Kyushu on Aug. 28-29 and could make landfall.

The agency warned that linear rainbands could develop in Kyushu as well as Yamaguchi, Tokushima, Ehime and Kochi prefectures through the night of Aug. 29 and sharply increase the risk of rain-related disasters.

The emergency warnings for Kagoshima Prefecture are the fourth on record that was entailed by a typhoon.

The first was issued for Miyakojima Island and the Okinawa main island region over Typhoon No. 8 in 2014; the second for the Okinawa main island region over Typhoon No. 18 in 2016; and the third for Kagoshima Prefecture over Typhoon No. 14 in 2022.

An emergency warning related to a typhoon is issued when a typhoon similar to the 1959 Ise Bay Typhoon that has a central pressure of 930 hectopascals or less or a maximum wind speed of 180 kph or more or a powerful typhoon that occurs once in decades is expected.

The Ise Bay Typhoon, also known as Typhoon Vera, left more than 5,000 people dead or missing nationwide.

As of 3 p.m. on Aug. 28, Typhoon No. 10 was swirling about 50 kilometers southwest of Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture and slowly moving northward.

It had a central pressure of 935 hectopascals, a maximum wind speed of 180 kph around its center and a maximum instantaneous wind speed of 252 kph. 

The JMA said there is a risk of prolonged heavy rainfall over the same areas because the typhoon is expected to slowly travel south to north through the Japanese archipelago.

In southern Kyushu, a maximum of 600 millimeters of rain is expected during the 24 hours through 6 a.m. on Aug. 29 and up to 600 mm during the next 24-hour period.

Heavy rain is also expected mainly in western Japan, with a maximum of 300 mm expected in northern Kyushu and Shikoku and 250 mm in the Amami and Tokai regions during the 24 hours through 6 a.m. on Aug. 29.

The JMA is calling for extreme precautions against wind storms, landslides, flooding and overflowing rivers.

The latest forecast map is available on the JMA website.

SHINKANSEN, FLIGHTS AFFECTED

Railways and airlines have already begun to be disrupted.

The Tokaido Shinkansen Line was intermittently halted due to heavy rains in Shizuoka Prefecture, caused by moist air around the typhoon, from the morning of Aug. 27.

Services will be suspended between Kumamoto and Kagoshima-Chuo stations on the Kyushu Shinkansen Line from the evening of Aug. 28 to Aug. 29

Kyushu Japan Railway Co. plans to cancel or reduce train runs on conventional lines.

There may be planned cancellations on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines through Aug. 31, according to Japan Railway companies.

Japan Airlines Co. announced that as of 8 a.m. on Aug. 28, 176 domestic and international flights to and from the Kyushu region and Haneda and other airports will be canceled on Aug. 28-29.

All Nippon Airways Co. also announced that as of 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 28, 112 flights to and from Kyushu, Kansai and other regions will be canceled on Aug. 28-30.

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