Japan issues emergency warning as Typhoon Shanshan nears after landslide kills one and buries several others: Latest updates

Following some warnings that the typhoon could bring tornadoes, there were unconfirmed social media reports of at least one tornado emerging in southern Kyushu.

As the typhoon approached the southern coast of Kyushu, storm chaser James Reynolds described a “complete whiteout at times” in Makurazaki, as the eyewall of the typhoon brought fierce winds, sheets of rain and infrequent lightning, leaving its harbour a “churning cauldron”.

In further X posts on Thursday morning local time, Mr Reynolds described widespread power outages and blocked roads as he shared footage of trees uprooted and rivers gushing with rainwater.

Fellow storm chaser Jonathan Petramala, also shared footage of the swirling blankets of rain in Makurazaka, writing: “This vortex in the inner eye wall … reminds me of the Dementors in HarryPotter”.

After returning to his hotel, Mr Petramala wrote: “The eye wall is still grinding over us … The whole building is shaking.”

Typhoon Shanshan appeared to make landfall near Makurazaki on the southern island of Kyushu on Thursday morning local time.

Wind gusts reached speeds of 85mph while some parts of southern Kyushu had received over 380mm of rain by Thursday morning, despite the typoon having weakened from the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane on Tuesday to a Category 2 storm, the Washington Post reported.

Meteorologists are struggling to chart the expected path of Typhoon Shanshan, which has been moving particularly slowly and whose route is dependent on a number of other weather systems at play in the region.

James Reynolds, who chases and documents tropical storms, told the Japan Times that he first drove to Osaka earlier this week to prepare for a then-forecast landfall in the Shikoku region. But after two days, he travelled to Tokyo and flew instead to Kagoshima Prefecture on Wednesday morning.

“Shanshan has been one of the bigger outliers among all the storms I’ve tracked in terms of the continued changes in forecast and how the computer weather models are handling it,” Mr Reynolds told the outlet.

Thousands of people are watching a livestream of a famous palm tree in Kagoshima, nicknamed “Yasshi”, as it is buffeted by Typhoon Shanshan.

“Yasshi is located next to a resort hotel and became famous for surviving major typhoons,” Dr Jeffrey J Hall, a lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies, said on X, adding: “Hang in there, Yasshi! You can survive this!”

While the livestream has currently lost its connection, thousands still appear to be watching it in the hopes of monitoring the palm tree’s fate.

The hotel previously made a towel commemorating Yasshi’s survival over typhoons in the past two years, according to Dr Hall.

More than 76,000 buildings were without power in Kyushu, the Japan Times reported earlier, citing Kyushu Electric.

Around 66,000 of those outages were reported in the Kagoshima Prefecture, while some 9,000 were in Miyazaki Prefecture.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency has warned that the risk of disaster could increase suddenly as the storm progresses.

Officials urged residents, especially older adults, to take shelter immediately if they feel unsafe.

“To protect your life and the lives of your loved ones, please flee to evacuation areas specified by local authorities and secure your safety,” said Satoshi Sugimoto, an official at the weather agency, speaking at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.

Japan Railway companies said most bullet trains and local train services were operating normally on Wednesday, but many on the island of Kyushu would be suspended on Thursday.

Similar steps may be taken on the main island of Honshu throughout Sunday.

Postal and delivery services have been also suspended in the Kyushu region, and supermarkets and other stores announced plans to close early.

An aerial view shows the search and rescue operation at a landslide site caused by a heavy rain due to the approach of Typhoon Shanshan in Gamagori, in Japan’s central Aichi Prefecture, hundreds of miles northeast of where the storm’s heaviest winds are currently battering Kyushu.

The Japanese government has cancelled its annual earthquake drills planned for Sunday to free up disaster response resources to deal with Typhoon Shanshan, the Associated Press reports.