Severe tropical storm Jangmi ripped across Japan on Wednesday (Jun 3) morning, with fierce winds and torrential rain disrupting transport and businesses, and knocking out power for tens of thousands of homes.
The storm's centre lay off the central, main island of Honshu, tracking northeast towards the greater Tokyo region with maximum sustained winds of up to 25m per second, Japan's Meteorological Agency said, adding that some areas along the Pacific coast are at an increasing risk of "life-threatening disasters".
The storm, with a central pressure of 980 hPa, has cut power to nearly 60,000 households so far, government spokesperson Minoru Kihara said during a regular press briefing.
"If you sense any danger, please do not hesitate to take early action to protect your lives," Kihara said.
Evacuation advisories were issued to hundreds of thousands of residents in eight prefectures across southwestern, central and eastern Japan.
Airlines including Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways had cancelled nearly 900 international and domestic services on Wednesday morning.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) also rescheduled 14 flights on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the storm.
Flights operating between Singapore and Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo, as well as between Singapore and Los Angeles via Tokyo, have been retimed, SIA said in an advisory on Tuesday.
SIA said that it would be contacting all customers booked on the retimed flights to inform them about changes to the flight schedules.
"As the situation remains fluid, other SIA flights may be affected," the airline said.
"Affected customers may request to be reaccommodated on alternative flights or seek a full refund of the unused portion of their ticket," it added.
Some bullet train services in Kyushu, in the southwest, and areas of western Japan were delayed, while East Japan Railway said that some rail services in the Tokyo area were suspended and more could be affected over the course of the day.
Bracing for severe weather conditions, Toyota Motor said on Tuesday that it would suspend operations at 13 domestic plants on Wednesday morning. Suzuki Motor is also halting work at all five plants in Shizuoka Prefecture, east of Tokyo, in the morning.
Source: Reuters