Typhoon Saudel was over the East China Sea on Wednesday after tearing through Okinawa and the other remote islands in Japan’s southwest, knocking out power, cancelling flights, and putting hillsides on landslide watch. The Japan Meteorological Agency put it about 180 kilometers northwest of Okinoerabu island late Wednesday morning, with winds up to 144 kph, still headed for China’s eastern coast. Two people were slightly hurt, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency and prefectural officials said.
A 78-year-old woman in Uruma, on Okinawa, was blown over outside her house and suffered a head injury. On Amamioshima, a woman in her 70s fell down stairs in a blackout, NHK said. About 150 flights in and out of Naha airport were cancelled. Kyushu Electric said more than 30,000 homes in Kagoshima prefecture, which includes the Amami islands, lost power. More than 23 centimeters of rain fell on Amami in 24 hours. The agency forecast another 10 centimeters there and up to 12 centimeters on Okinawa through midday Thursday, and kept a landslide warning up for Amami.
This is a different storm from Narra, which has been soaking southern China and northern Vietnam. Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said Tuesday that Saudel was weakening and drifting north, which makes a Taiwan landfall less likely, though outer bands could still bring rain and wind from Thursday afternoon, with the closest pass Friday. Maximum sustained winds were down to 155 kph from 184. Narra had already been downgraded to a tropical depression. Wednesday’s story is the Japanese islands that already took the hit, and a typhoon still pointed at the China coast.
Sources: Associated Press; Japan Meteorological Agency via AP; NHK via AP; Focus Taiwan (CNA).
