Japan cancelled hundreds of flights on Friday and urged thousands of people in eastern parts of the country to evacuate as a powerful typhoon disrupted power supplies in the middle of a key summer holiday week.
Typhoon Ampil, classified as “very strong” by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), was located off the Pacific coast of Japan’s main island at 3 pm (local time). The agency has placed it in two higher categories – “very strong” and “violent”.
The typhoon is expected to approach the eastern Kanto region, which includes the capital Tokyo, on Friday evening.
According to the JMA, Ampil had a peak wind speed of 45 metres per second, with maximum gusts of 60 metres per second (216 km/h/134 mph).
“Strong winds are expected in the Kanto region, which could cause injuries from flying debris or even overturn moving trucks,” the JMA warned on its website.
The city of Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan issued an evacuation order for about 323,000 residents, asking them to vacate their homes as heavy rains are expected to increase until Saturday morning.
The city of Mobara in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, also ordered the evacuation of about 18,500 residents, while dozens of other cities opened special evacuation centers and advised voluntary evacuations.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said more than 2,500 homes in the Kanto region remained without power into the afternoon.
ANA Holdings said it would cancel 281 domestic flights and 54 international flights scheduled to depart or arrive on Friday, affecting about 70,000 passengers.
The airline later said it would cancel 32 domestic flights to and from Tokyo’s Haneda airport on Saturday, disrupting travel plans for about 2,300 passengers.
Japan Airlines plans to cancel 281 domestic and 38 international flights on Friday, affecting about 50,000 passengers.
All high-speed “Shinkansen” bullet train services between Tokyo and Japan’s industrial region Nagoya have also been cancelled.
Restaurants, department stores and amusement parks were either closed or had reduced hours. Tokyo Disneyland, operated by Oriental Land, extended its closing time to 3 p.m. local time on Friday from 9 p.m.