Typhoon Khanun Hits Okinawa Island In Japan

Southern Japan has been hit by a typhoon, which has forced evacuations and lost electricity to one-third of the households on the Okinawa islands.

The slow-moving Khanun, which is the third typhoon to hit East Asia in as many weeks, has threatened to worsen the heaviest rains in Beijing in more than a century.

The deluge has killed at least 34 people in China so far.

Experts say that extreme weather events like this will become more frequent because of global warming.

Khanun follows two other typhoons, Talim and Doksuri, a super storm, which also drenched the Philippines and Taiwan, killing more than 30 people, in the last few weeks.

It was expected to make landfall on China’s north-east coast on Wednesday but forecasts now say it is more likely to turn towards the Japanese mainland without hitting China.

Japan’s tropical Okinawa islands are expected to face the brunt of Khanun’s 252km/h (156mph) gusts on Wednesday.

About 20,000 people have been advised to evacuate and nearly 900 flights have been cancelled at Okinawa’s Naha airport. 

This is peak tourist season for the island. Such strong storms are rare at this time of the year in Japan.

But climate scientists have long warned that global warming would increase the intensity and frequency of storms and heatwaves, both of which have hit parts of Asia in the past month.

Chioma Kalu

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