Japan issues emergency warning as ’extremely strong’ Typhoon Shanshan approaches | DW News

Japan issued an emergency warning as it braced for a powerful typhoon as it slowly approached the southwest of the country, threatening to bring heavy rain and strong winds. Typhoon Shanshan was about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of the southern island of Yakushima on Wednesday morning as it headed north towards Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu with winds of up to 180 kilometers per hour, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. The agency said the typhoon is expected to reach the southern part of Kyushu and make landfall on Thursday. JMA issued a high-level warning for the Kagoshima prefecture of strong winds, high waves and tides as well as heavy rain. Southern Kyushu is expected to receive 500 millimeters (19.6 inches) of rain in the 24 hours through Thursday morning and 600 millimeters in the 24 hours through Friday morning, the JMA added. Authorities issued evacuation orders for more than 800,000 residents in the Kagoshima prefecture of Kyushu and in the central prefectures of Aichi