A powerful typhoon passed over Okinawa Prefecture on Tuesday, forcing the cancellation of all flights and ferry services in the area.
Typhoon Neoguri, the season’s eighth typhoon, is now forecast to head northward over the East China Sea, approaching the main island of Kyushu and possibly even making landfall there Thursday. The Meteorological Agency also said there is a possibility the typhoon may affect eastern Japan, including the Tokyo area.
By early Wednesday morning, the weather agency had lifted all severe warnings for wind, waves and rain issued earlier for the islands of Okinawa.
On Tuesday, Miyako, Ginowan and 17 other municipalities in Okinawa advised a total of 590,000 local residents to evacuate and public schools around the prefecture were closed.
Flights from all nine airports in the prefecture as well as ferry services on all 17 routes serving the islands were canceled. Operations were also suspended on the monorail running in the Okinawan capital of Naha, and some main roads, including the highway on the main island, were closed.
At least 20 people sustained injuries, including an 83-year-old woman in Naha who suffered a wound to the head when she fell from a stepladder.
As of 2 a.m. Wednesday, Typhoon Neoguri was located around 300 km north-northwest of Kume Island and heading north at 25 kph, with an atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals at its center and with wind gusts of up to 216 kph.
The typhoon is expected to maintain strong winds and heavy rain through Wednesday in Okinawa and parts of Kyushu, according to the agency.