POWERFUL TYPHOON STRIKES JAPAN, 500,000 RESIDENTS URGED TO EVACUATE
500,000 residents were urged to evacuate and hundreds of flights were cancelled, as a powerful typhoon brought heavy rains and strong winds to Japan's southwestern islands.
Typhoon Neoguri, which is forecast to reach Tokyo later this week, has been dowgraded from its original status as a super typhoon but the storm remained intense, with gusts of more than 250kmph.
One man was killed after his boat was swamped by high waves, NHK national television said. Several people suffered minor injuries from falls.
The typhoon was powering towards the Okinawa island chain where emergency rain and high-seas warnings were in effect, the storm will be at its most powerful as it passes over the region, about 1,600 km southwest of Tokyo on Tuesday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned of heavy rains and potential flooding in Kyushu, the westernmost of Japan's main islands, as well as heavy rain in the rest of the nation as the storm turns east.
Source: Al Jazeera
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