Typhoon Goni

August 25, 2015

Around 240,000 households advised to evacuate as typhoon hammers Kyushu

Some 240,000 households received advisories to evacuate as powerful Typhoon Goni slammed Kyushu on Aug. 25.

The typhoon, the 15th of the season, made landfall around Arao, Kumamoto Prefecture, a little past 6 a.m. on Aug. 25. As it passed north through northern Kyushu, almost all of Kyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture were enveloped in the storm's heavy wind zone. At least 37 people were injured. Combined with the 10 people injured from the typhoon's passage through Okinawa Prefecture on Aug. 24, there have been at least 47 people injured so far by Typhoon Goni.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), while Typhoon Goni has weakened somewhat, it continues to possess great strength. As of 11 a.m. on Aug. 25, it was traveling north at about 40 kilometers per hour some 50 kilometers northwest of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Its central air pressure was 965 hectopascals, and its maximum wind speed was 50 meters per second.

Maximum wind speeds of 41.9 meters per second and 37 meters per second were recorded in the cities of Kumamoto and Saga, respectively. Fukuoka's Sawara Ward and Saga's Mitsusemura district recorded around 120 millimeters of rainfall in one hour, and Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward recorded 110 millimeters in one hour. The JMA issued warnings to these areas for record short-term rainfall.

Evacuation orders, meanwhile, were issued for Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, Nishi and Sawara wards in the city of Fukuoka, and other locations, covering 177,653 people in 82,768 households. Recommendations to evacuate were given for all of Shimonoseki, as well as other locations across Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Yamaguchi prefectures, covering 388,338 people in 161,050 households.

By a Mainichi Shimbun count, as of 11 a.m. on Aug. 25, as many as 8,607 people had evacuated. At least 19 homes had been damaged, and blackouts have occurred.

According to six airlines, some 250 flights leaving or going to the Chugoku, Shikoku or Kyushu regions were canceled, affecting around 30,000 potential passengers.

All train services on the Kyushu Shinkansen Line and operations between Hakata and Hiroshima stations on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line were stopped all day on Aug. 25.

The typhoon has brought a string of injuries. In Yatsushiro and Minamata in Kumamoto Prefecture, three people were injured by broken glass. In Yatsushiro, a 42-year-old driver of a moving truck that was blown over had his right elbow injured. In Saiki, Oita Prefecture, another driver of a moving truck was injured and sent to the hospital after it was blown over.

At around 7 a.m. in Yukuhashi, Fukuoka Prefecture, a 52-year-old man repairing his home roof fell and had his legs injured. In Sanyo-onoda, Yamaguchi Prefecture, an 80-year-old woman fell while heading from her home to a nearby citizens' hall to evacuate, breaking her left foot. In Nagasaki's Tenjincho, a man in his 20s suffered injuries to his wrists from broken glass caused by strong winds.

In Kumamoto's Chuo Ward, a tree was uprooted and blocked a prefectural road.

According to the JMA, the typhoon is expected to slowly move away from Japan on Aug. 26.