Officials Warn Typhoon Could Destroy Homes In Okinawa
Japan's weather officials warn Typhoon Hinnamnor may hit the country's southwestern islands on Wednesday with a force powerful enough to destroy homes.
The meteorological agency says the very strong typhoon was advancing west over the seas to the south of Japan at 35 kilometers per hour as of 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The storm had a central atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals and a maximum wind speed of 162 kilometers per hour near its center.
An instantaneous wind speed of 234 kilometers per hour was observed. Gusts of over 90 kilometers per hour were blowing within a 95 kilometer radius of its center.
The typhoon is expected to continue to develop and come close to Okinawa prefecture and the Amami region in Kagoshima Prefecture by Wednesday. Its gusts could be powerful enough to topple homes in the Daitojima region in Okinawa Prefecture.
The forecast calls for gusts of up to 180 kilometers per hour and instantaneous wind speeds of 252 kilometers per hour in the Okinawa region on Wednesday.
Extremely rough seas are expected that day, with waves reaching 9 meters in the Okinawa region and 6 meters in the Amami region.
Developed rain clouds near the typhoon are expected to bring torrential downpours to the Daitojima region on Wednesday. Between 100 and 200 millimeters of rainfall are forecast in the 24 hours from noon.
Depending on the course of the storm, violent winds could hit Okinawa's main island from Wednesday and the Sakishima Islands from Thursday.
Officials are warning of violent winds, high waves, mudslides, flooding of low-lying areas and swelling rivers.