Powerful typhoon lashes Japan's Okinawa islands; evacuation ordered

Powerful typhoon Hinnamnor arrived in the south of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, resulting in orders for residents of three municipalities to evacuate.

As of Saturday evening, the typhoon, the 11th of the season, had caused power outages for more than 3,000 households in Miyakojima and Ishigaki in Okinawa Prefecture, while one woman was slightly injured in Naha, Xinhua news agency reported.

The three Okinawa Prefecture municipalities of Miyakojima, Ishigaki and Taketomi issued evacuation orders for all residents on Saturday, with the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warning of strong winds and high waves for Japan's southernmost prefecture.

As of 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, Hinnamnor was heading north at 15 kilometers per hour from about 80 kilometers southeast of Ishigaki Island. It had a central pressure of 955 hectopascals, with maximum sustained winds of 40 meters per second near its centre and maximum instantaneous gusts of 60 meters per second.

The JMA warned that the typhoon will also lead to unstable atmospheric conditions far from its course as it brings warm humid air to fronts from eastern to western Japan.

Torrential rain is predicted for large parts of Japan through Monday, with the agency warning of landslides, flooding and rising rivers.

The typhoon is expected to move north into the East China Sea from Sunday through Monday, and approach the Kyushu region in the country's southwest on Tuesday, according to the JMA.

China on Saturday raised its emergency response for flood and typhoon control to level III, as Hinnamnor approaches the country's eastern coastal areas and heads for landfall as a super typhoon.

--IANS

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