Japan's southernmost island, Kyushu, saw the landfall of tropical storm Shanshan on Thursday, a powerful typhoon. Strong gusts and a lot of rain caused at least three persons to lose their lives. As Shanshan advanced up the archipelago, significant damage was sustained and concerns over potential flooding and landslides grew.
In the course of a day, Shanshan dumped about two feet (60 centimeters) of rain on Kyushu's Miyazaki prefecture. This August rainfall is higher than average for the area. This intense downpour caused rivers to swell, raising the possibility of floods. With speeds as low as 108 kph (67 mph), the storm was no longer regarded as a strong typhoon by late afternoon.
In Miyazaki City, the storm toppled trees, shifted cars, and broke windows, causing considerable damage. About forty structures were damaged. The risk of flooding was increased by the reported dangerously high levels of the swollen rivers in the surrounding areas, such as Yufu in Oita prefecture.
This resulted in at least fifty injuries across Kyushu, of which Miyazaki was responsible for about half. The typhoon caused power outages for a quarter of a million households, primarily in the Kagoshima prefecture. Twenty thousand people were placed in emergency shelters, illustrating the storm's widespread impact on the region.
