By Sunday Ameh
Typhoon Dolphin has battered Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture, leaving five people injured and cutting power to about 14,000 buildings as China prepares for the storm’s expected arrival on its eastern coast.
The typhoon was about 160 kilometres northwest of Kume Island in Okinawa as of 3:00 a.m. GMT on Saturday, according to Japan’s Meteorological Agency. It was moving northwest at about 15 kilometres per hour.
Five elderly people sustained non-life-threatening injuries, with three reportedly falling because of the strong winds. Domestic airlines ANA and Japan Airlines also cancelled flights to the affected region.
The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometres per hour, with gusts reaching 216 kilometres per hour.
Okinawa and Amami Island in Kagoshima prefecture are among the areas expected to experience the strongest impact in Japan.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have begun preparations ahead of the typhoon’s expected landfall along the country’s eastern and southern coast between late Sunday and early Monday.
The China National Meteorological Centre said the storm was most likely to make landfall between Zhoushan in Zhejiang province and Fuding in Fujian province, bringing winds of up to 101 mph near its centre.
Heavy rain and strong winds are expected across parts of eastern China through August 12, with some areas of eastern Zhejiang forecast to receive more than 600 millimetres of rainfall.
Zhejiang has raised its coastal typhoon alert to the highest level, halted port operations and suspended 162 passenger ferry routes.
Ningbo Lishe International Airport in Zhejiang also announced that it would suspend operations from Saturday night, while Shanghai’s Yangshan port had cleared vessels from the area.
Some rail services across the Yangtze River Delta are also expected to be suspended from Sunday.
In Taiwan, authorities said 63 international flights had been cancelled because of the typhoon, with heavy rainfall expected in northern parts of the island over the weekend.
China has also ordered vessels travelling through the Taiwan Strait to comply with its traffic-control instructions because of the storm.
Taiwan condemned the move as “ridiculous”, arguing that Beijing has no authority to restrict access to international waters.
Authorities across Japan, China and Taiwan continue to monitor Typhoon Dolphin as it moves toward the Chinese coast, with residents urged to take precautions against strong winds, flooding and heavy rainfall.
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