Typhoon Shanshan's Devastating Impact on Japan

Typhoon Shanshan caused massive evacuations, power outages, and flight cancellations across southwest Japan. The storm’s strong winds and heavy rains led to fatalities and injuries, with major factories halting operations. Recovery efforts are ongoing as the typhoon moves north, potentially impacting central and eastern regions, including Tokyo.

Millions of people were ordered to evacuate as Typhoon Shanshan battered southwest Japan with fierce winds and torrential rain on Thursday, disrupting power supplies, grounding flights, and forcing major factories to cease operations.

The violent storm has claimed at least three lives and left scores injured, raising concerns among authorities about one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the region. Toyota suspended production at all its domestic plants, with Nissan, Honda, and chipmakers Renesas and Tokyo Electron following suit at some locations.

Tomoki Maeda, a funeral parlor employee caught in the tempest in Miyazaki city, witnessed shattered windows and collapsing walls firsthand. "I've never experienced such a strong wind or tornado in my 31 years of life," Maeda recounted to Reuters.

With winds gusting up to 50 meters per second (180 km/h or 112 mph), the typhoon was near Unzen city in Nagasaki Prefecture by 1:45 p.m. (0445 GMT), moving north at about 15 km/h, according to the weather agency. Around 230,000 households across seven prefectures lost power, noted Kyushu Electric Power Co., while the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant remained unaffected.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi reported three fatalities and one person missing due to the typhoon, with 45 others injured, according to the disaster management agency. The storm is expected to linger over Kyushu for a few days before approaching central and eastern regions, Tokyo included, by the weekend.

Authorities issued evacuation notices to over 5.2 million people nationwide. Madoka Kubo, who manages a hotel in historic Hitoyoshi city, Kumamoto prefecture, shared that her hotel is now sheltering elderly evacuees after all reservations were canceled.

Airlines like ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines preemptively canceled about 800 flights, and train services throughout Kyushu, along with hundreds of bus and ferry operations, have been suspended, as stated by the transport ministry. Typhoon Shanshan follows on the heels of Typhoon Ampil, which also brought blackouts and evacuations earlier this month.

(With inputs from agencies.)