Nearly a million people in Japan were ordered to evacuate and Toyota shuttered all its factories on Wednesday afternoon as the country braced for Typhoon Shanshan to approach the mainland, with the authorities warning that it could produce a large-scale disaster.
Japanese officials issued rare emergency warnings for the powerful storm as it churned toward the country’s southwest, bringing torrential rain and dangerous winds. The emergency warnings were issued for storms and high waves in Kagoshima Prefecture. They are the highest category of warnings possible in Japan and are usually only issued once every few decades, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The storm was shifting north on Wednesday after passing the Amami Islands, an archipelago southwest of Japan’s mainland. On Thursday, it was expected to approach Kyushu, one of Japan’s main islands, according to the meteorological agency. It may make landfall in Kyushu, the agency said, but forecasters are uncertain about its exact path.
The authorities warned that wind speeds could strengthen and topple some homes, and that the rain could cause flash flooding and landslides. The authorities issued evacuation orders for about 990,000 people across southern, western and central Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Toyota announced that it would pause production at all 14 of its Japan factories overnight, starting from Wednesday evening, to protect the safety of its workers. Shiro Tachimoto, a company representative, said the company would reassess on Thursday morning whether to keep the factories closed or reopen them.
In Aichi Prefecture in central Japan, rescuers were looking for two people, after their house was buried by a landslide, the public broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday. While two residents of the same home had been rescued.