TOKYO, Sep 17(ABC): The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said Saturday it is ready to issue a special typhoon warning for some areas in the country’s southwestern region of Kyushu as an “unprecedented” storm is expected to approach. Large and powerful Typhoon Nanmadol is forecast to make landfall in Kagoshima and bring record rain to the prefecture and nearby areas, with the weather agency calling for maximum vigilance as damaging winds and high waves are expected, possibly triggering landslides and flooding.
The JMA said it may issue the most serious typhoon alert as early as Saturday evening for Kagoshima and other areas in Kyushu, which would be the first such alert for Japanese prefectures apart from Okinawa. The director of forecasts at the weather agency Ryuta Kurora said that the typhoon had rapidly intensified since Friday night and become a dangerous storm like people have never experienced before.
As of Saturday morning, Nanmadol, rated as large in scale and violent, was about 200 kilometers east of Minamidaito island and moving northwest at 10 kilometers per hour. It was carrying winds near its center of 198 kilometers per hour with maximum gusts of up to 270 kilometers per hour, with an atmospheric pressure of 910 hectopascals at its center