Slow-moving Typhoon Lan made landfall on the Kii Peninsula in western Japan on Tuesday, leaving several people injured as heavy rainfall disrupted air and train services at the height of the summer holiday season.

The weather agency continued to warn of heavy rainfall in eastern, central and western Japan and urged residents to stay alert for possible dangerous flooding, landslides and strong winds.

Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. canceled over 560 flights mostly departing and arriving in western Japan, affecting more than 50,000 passengers.

Around 650 people were forced to stay overnight at Kansai airport, located on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, after rail and road access was cut off by the typhoon.

Many people had to sleep at the airport, and the facility operator handed out sleeping bags and water to those stranded there.

A weary-looking 65-year-old woman from Taiwan said, "I hadn't expected something like this."

A 22-year-old university student from Okinawa, who said he gave up on his hopes of sightseeing in Kyoto, complained that it was cold overnight at the airport due to the strong air conditioning.

Major shinkansen stations such as JR Shin-Osaka Station, which would usually be packed with holidaymakers during the annual Bon summer holidays, were mostly deserted.

Central Japan Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co. canceled all bullet train services between Nagoya and Shin-Osaka stations and those between Shin-Osaka and Okayama stations throughout Tuesday.

Universal Studios Japan's popular theme park in Osaka closed Tuesday and four summer high school baseball championship games were canceled at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture near Osaka and were rescheduled to Wednesday.

In the city of Wakayama, a man in his 60s was found unconscious after being crushed by the outer wall of a building. A woman in her 70s was injured after being hit by the eaves of a building in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture.

The typhoon, which made landfall shortly before 5 a.m., was located around 40 kilometers west-southwest of the city of Fukuchiyama in Kyoto Prefecture and moving north-northwest as of 4 p.m., the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

It had an atmospheric pressure of 985 hectopascals with winds of up to 126 kilometers per hour.

The typhoon lashed some western Japan areas with heavy rain, with precipitation of 304.0 millimeters logged over a 6-hour period in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, and 190.0 mm in Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture.

Source:
courtesy of KPL NEWS AGENCY

by KPL Lao News Agency

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