Japan urges nearly 2 million people to evacuate as powerful Typhoon Dujuan sparks flooding and landslide warnings
Forecasters warned of "an imminent threat to life" as the strong typhoon approaches eastern Japan.
Nearly two million people have been urged to evacuate as a powerful typhoon approaches Japan’s Pacific coast, threatening to bring torrential rain, violent winds and a heightened risk of landslides.
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The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned it is "extremely likely that some form of disaster has already occurred in landslide-prone areas and similar zones" and urged people to ensure their safety "immediately" over "an imminent threat to life" amid Typhoon Dujuan.
Japan's ministry of internal affairs said 1,908,645 people have been asked to evacuate in six of the country’s prefectures, including Ibaraki, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka and Saitama.
It comes as a woman in her 60s is thought to have been buried alive following a landslide in the city of Yokosuka as emergency services attempt to rescue her
Up to 50,890 households have already been left without power across the country, Tokyo's power company (TEPCO Power Grid) has said.
Chiba prefecture has been the worst affected area, with 41,130 households impacted.
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Images show residents up to their knees in water as heavy rainfall triggered flooding in Ichikawa, Chiba province.
The JMA said this morning that conditions could deteriorate rapidly as Typhoon Dujuan passes close to the Tokyo metropolitan area.
It is expected to affect Japan’s Kanto region and other parts of eastern Japan, the weather agency warned.Meanwhile, nearly 500 flights have been cancelled in two of Tokyo’s main airports, Tokyo's disaster prevention agency has asked residents to avoid basements amid a level 3 heavy rain warning.
The Izu Islands and parts of Japan's Pacific coast have already been drenched by heavy rain, with some locations recording more than 300 mm (12 inches) of rainfall since Saturday.
This has prompted authorities to issue the highest-level landslide emergency warning for the town of Oshima in the Izu Islands, about 110 km (68 miles) south of Tokyo.
The JMA said downpours could intensify from Monday afternoon as the typhoon nears the Kanto region, an area that includes Tokyo and surrounding prefectures.At the Asian Games in central Japan's Aichi Prefecture, organisers postponed the equestrian eventing competition until Tuesday due to the typhoon.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's departure for New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly was delayed by four hours because of the storm, with the government saying she would now leave Tokyo at 11pm local time.
Authorities cautioned that linear rain bands could form over Kanto and central Japan, sharply raising the risk of flash floods and other rain-related disasters.
Linear bands, which have become a growing concern in Japan in recent years, can dump extraordinary amounts of rain over a narrow area for several hours.
Typhoon Dujuan comes amid a year of extreme weather events around the world, with unusually intense rainfall, flooding and tropical cyclones affecting regions from East Asia to North America and Europe.