Powerful typhoon approaches Japan’s Okinawa, leaves 1 dead

TOKYO. KAZINFORM - A large, powerful typhoon continued to approach Japan's southern island prefecture of Okinawa on Wednesday, leaving a 90-year-old man dead, as the country's weather agency warned of strong winds and storm tides, Kyodo reports.

The man died in a hospital on Wednesday after he became trapped under his collapsed garage the previous night at his residence, located in the prefecture, with police suspecting that the collapse was caused by strong winds accompanying the typhoon.

Typhoon Khanun, the sixth of the season, is expected to maintain its strength but slow down in the East China Sea, though it will likely continue to affect Okinawa with storms and high waves on Thursday and beyond, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

As of noon Wednesday, the typhoon was southwest of Kume Island, moving west-northwest at a speed of 10 kilometers per hour. The storm had an atmospheric pressure of 935 hectopascals at its center, packing winds of up to 234 kph.

The typhoon is also expected to bring torrential rain, with rainfall of up to 200 millimeters in Okinawa and 120 millimeters in Amami-Oshima Island, located in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima, over the 24 hours through noon Thursday.