A typhoon roared towards Japan’s main island on election day on Sunday, killing at least two people, prompting a warning for tens of thousands to evacuate and the cancellation of hundreds of flights, Reuters reported.
One man was killed under scaffolding that collapsed in high winds and a fisherman was killed as he tended to his boat, Kyodo news agency said. There were a handful of minor injuries.
Typhoon Lan, classified as an intense Category 4 storm by the Tropical Storm Risk monitoring site, was south of Japan and moving northeast at 50 kph on Sunday night, speeding up slightly, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.
Lan appeared to have weakened slightly from its peak, but it was still a powerful storm that could pound parts of Japan with more than 80 mm (3 inches) of rain an hour, an agency official told reporters.
It is set to make landfall on Japan’s main island of Honshu, possibly near Tokyo, early on Monday, at which time it is likely to have weakened to a Category 2 storm.
“The wind and rain will grow stronger as the night goes on, so take measures as needed as early as possible, preferably before it gets dark,” the official said.
The agency issued warnings for heavy rain and flooding on the Pacific side of Japan including the Tokyo metropolitan area, even though the typhoon is likely to be downgraded.