5 injured as typhoon to make landfall in western Japan
The JapanMeteorological Agency said that with Typhoon Krosa set to land on Shikoku andChugoku regions and advance northward toward the Sea of Japan, total rainfallcould exceed 1,200 millimeters in western and eastern areas facing the Pacific, Kyodo News reports.
The fivepeople injured were in Mie, Ehime, Oita and Miyazaki prefectures, while theevacuations, amid warnings of landslides and floods, occurred in Kochi and 14other prefectures.
West JapanRailway Co. suspended all Sanyo Shinkansen bullet train services operatingThursday between Shin-Osaka and Kokura. Local railway services in Okayama,Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures will also be canceled, the railway operatorsaid.
ShikokuRailway Co. said it will entirely suspend services in its area on the westernmain island.
As for airtransportation, Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. cancelled a totalof more than 400 domestic and international flights Thursday.
Theseason's 10th typhoon with an atmospheric pressure of 975 hectopascals at itscenter was packing winds of up to 162 kilometers per hour as of 10 a.m.Thursday, the agency said.
It wastraveling north at a speed of 25 kph from a position about 30 km west-southwestof Uwajima, Ehima Prefecture.
In a valleyin Kusu, Oita Prefecture, a group of 18 people including children were rescuedThursday after they were stranded the previous day following the rise of ariver, local officials said.
In the 24hours through 6 a.m. Friday, the weather agency forecast 800 mm of rain inShikoku, 500 mm in Tokai and Kinki and 300 mm in Kanto and northern Kyushu.
More details also at