Japan faced widespread transport disruptions on Friday as authorities warned of heavy rainfall and landslide risks linked to two approaching tropical storms, prompting evacuation orders for around 1 million people.
Reuters reported that more than 200 flights were cancelled, dozens of train services were suspended, and several expressways were closed, according to the land ministry. Car manufacturer Toyota also briefly halted operations at a factory in the southern Kyushu region.
Weather officials said a lingering seasonal rain front, combined with warm, moist air from tropical storms Mekkhala and Higos, has brought heavy rainfall across large parts of western Japan, raising the risk of landslides, flooding and swollen rivers.
Emergency management authorities said about 1 million people remain under evacuation orders, although some warnings had earlier been lifted in Okinawa and other southern areas.
Mekkhala, downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm, was passing over the southern Ryukyu Islands on Friday after skirting Taiwan, where severe rainfall disrupted parts of the island, affecting around 6 million people by closing schools and government offices.
“Last night the rain wasn’t too bad. But this morning the rain didn’t stop,” said Chi, a dessert shop owner in northern Taiwan’s Zhubei city. “The road outside was flooded up to the knees, and inside our shop it was a little below knee level.”
Mekkhala is expected to accelerate and approach western and eastern Japan by Saturday, around the same time that Higos is forecast to move closer to the country’s eastern coast and possibly make landfall, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Authorities warned that the combined impact of the storms and the seasonal rain front could significantly increase rainfall across wide areas of the country.
In Taiwan, heavy rains also led to the closure of government offices and schools in the southern cities of Kaohsiung, Pingtung, and Tainan, while flooding disrupted part of the island’s main north–south railway line.
In Hsinchu, home to semiconductor giant TSMC, offices and schools were closed after midday on Friday. The company said its factories were operating normally and had implemented precautionary measures.
Around six million people live in the four affected regions in Taiwan. Despite the heavy rainfall, no casualties have been reported so far.
However, authorities in Hualien evacuated nearly 200 residents living downstream of a natural barrier lake to safer areas.
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