It’s no longer a typhoon, but tropical storm Shanshan is still hitting Japan with torrential rain and high winds, and it’s going to take its time.
A powerful storm lashed southern Japan with torrential rain and strong winds Thursday, causing at least three deaths as it started a crawl up the length of the archipelago and raised concerns of flooding, landslides and extensive damage. Tropical storm Shanshan made landfall Thursday morning as a powerful typhoon on the southern island of Kyushu and then gradually lost strength, though it was still forecast to bring strong winds, high waves and significant rainfall to most of the country, particularly on Kyushu.
Three people were killed and one was left missing, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Thursday, adding that two other people were severely injured because of the typhoon.
Nearly 2 feet of rain fell in parts of Miyazaki prefecture on Kyushu, swelling rivers and threatening floods, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. That 24-hour total was more than the average rainfall for all of August, it said.
By late afternoon Thursday, the storm was moving north at 9 mph and its winds had weakened to 67 mph. It is “no longer a powerful typhoon”, the agency said.
CBS News senior weather producer David Parkinson said that while the storm was expected to continue weakening, the fact that it had “slowed to the speed of a brisk walk” meant it was likely to still bring torrential downpours to Kyushu, with the potential for 2-3 feet of rain to fall in some places on the island.
