Evacuations ordered in western Japan as Typhoon Jongdari heads for Tokai region

KYODO, AFP-JIJI
Western Japan braced for more rain, flooding and landslides Saturday as Typhoon Jongdari, the 12th storm of the year, barreled toward the central Tokai region where it was expected to make landfall overnight and proceed toward western Japan.
Coming less than a month after deadly rains and floods wreaked havoc in western Japan, the typhoon is forecast to dump even more rain on much of the region as it approaches from the east.
The Meteorological Agency warned residents to remain vigilant against further landslides and flooding and to leave promptly when advised.
At a news conference Saturday, Minako Sakurai, head of the agency’s weather consultation center, urged those who are called on to evacuate to do so quickly because it can be difficult to reach shelters in the dark in the middle of a storm.
“We want people especially in the downpour-hit regions to pay close attention to the evacuation advisories,” Sakurai said.
The city of Shobara in Hiroshima Prefecture ordered about 36,400 residents to evacuate as a precautionary measure, officials said. TV footage showed workers and residents hurriedly piling up sand bags to guard against floods.
“Although it has not rained here, we are urging people to evacuate before it gets dark,” said Masaharu Kataoka, an official with the Shobara Municipal Government.
Evacuation orders and advisories were also issued in flood-hit Kure, where some 6,380 residents were urged to leave, news reports said.
In Japan, evacuation orders are not mandatory and people often stay at home, only to be trapped by rapidly rising water or sudden landslides.
“It’s going to deal a double punch,” a resident in Okayama told NHK, referring to the killer rains and the incoming typhoon. “We are seriously worried.”
In Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, police received an emergency call around 7 p.m. reporting that several vehicles including an ambulance were stuck on a flooded road near the ocean. The water was apparently caused by high waves from Typhoon Jongdari’s approach.
Areas along the Pacific coast may get more than 80 millimeters of rain per hour, the agency said, noting that over 410 domestic flights had already been cancelled, along with ferry services from Tokyo to nearby islands.
As of 9 p.m., Jongdari was about 60 km south-southeast of Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, and heading west at 35 kph with an atmospheric pressure of 965 hectopascals at its center, the agency said.
The typhoon’s maximum wind speed through Sunday is likely to be 126 kph, the agency said.
After making landfall, the typhoon will likely slow and take an unusual turn to the west, the agency said.
Typhoons typically approach Japan from the southwest and follow a southwest-to-northeast course due partly to the effect of the westerly jet stream and the high pressure system over the Pacific Ocean.
The massive rain in western Japan earlier this month killed 224 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes through flooding and thousands of landslides.
“We are fully ready 24 hours a day to evacuate residents,” said Tadahiko Mizushima of the Okayama Prefectural Government. “We are paying special attention to the areas where restoration of river banks is under way, as it would be the first heavy rain since the disaster.”
Officials are particularly cautious because many people did not heed evacuation orders during the rain disaster. Some critics said the orders came too late.
A deadly heat wave immediately afterward has also caused alarm and was declared a natural disaster in its own right. The extreme heat pushed the mercury to a record high of 41.1 on Monday and claimed dozens of lives, most of them elderly.