Typhoon Haishen Hitting Japan's Southwest
A powerful typhoon, possibly the strongest in decades, is battering the country's southwest.
Typhoon Haishen is expected to draw very close to the southern main island of Kyushu through Monday morning. Authorities are calling on people to stay on the highest alert and evacuate promptly if advised to do so.
Weather officials say that at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Typhoon Haishen was 80 kilometers southwest of Makurazaki city, Kagoshima prefecture. They say it was moving north at 35 kilometers per hour.
Haishen has a central atmospheric pressure of 945 hectopascals. The typhoon is packing maximum winds of 162 kilometers per hour near its center -- and gusts of up to 216 kilometers per hour.
Officials are warning of potentially record rainfall, unprecedented wind, high tides and large ocean swells.
Heavy rain is falling not only in the typhoon's path, but across wide areas of Japan, including those far from the storm. Authorities are warning of landslides, swollen rivers and flooding in low-lying areas.
All seven prefectures on Kyushu island had issued evacuation orders to local residents as of 7:30 p.m.
The orders apply to more than 1.8 million people.
A woman in her 80s in Goto City says she became quite worried after hearing the typhoon would be so powerful.
Other woman in Kagoshima City says she has decided to evacuate for the first time.
A number of people have so far been injured in Kyushu.
More than 550 domestic flights were canceled on Sunday. Most were to and from southern Kyushu and Okinawa.
Over 580 domestic flights are set to be canceled on Monday. These include flights to and from the Shikoku and Chugoku regions, as well as Kyushu.
The operator of the Kyushu Shinkansen line says all trains will be canceled on Monday. Some trains of the Sanyo Shinkansen line to Hiroshima and Osaka will also be canceled.
