Typhoon lashes Japan islands and Taiwan, heading to China

People walk on the street under heavy rain and winds caused by Typhoon Chan-hom in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on July 10, 2015. (Photo: AFP/Jiji Press)

TOKYO: Typhoon Chan-hom lashed Japan's Okinawa island chain on Friday (Jul 10) as it pushed towards Taiwan and onto China, leaving more than 20 people injured.

Thousands were evacuated from eastern China in preparation for the storm which left five dead in the Philippines earlier in the week after heavy rains.

The powerful typhoon - categorised as a "super typhoon" by some regional weather bureaus - was moving northwest of Miyako island of the Okinawan island chain on Friday afternoon, with recorded gusts of 234 kilometres per hour, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The typhoon is expected to keep moving northward, bringing rainstorms and waves as high as 12 metres at sea, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.

As trees were uprooted and buildings battered, at least 23 people were injured and 180 evacuated across the area, the Tokyo Broadcasting System broadcaster reported.

The meteorological agency warned that strong winds and high waves would continue to pound the island chain where 42,000 households have been left without power.

The storm left five dead in the Philippines, including three children, as it swept through from Tuesday with flooding almost a metre deep in the northern island of Luzon and 1,500 people displaced.

Chan-hom began to bear down on Taiwan Friday, where the weather bureau categorised it as a "severe typhoon". Four people have been injured so far, all of them by falling trees.

THOUSANDS EVACUATED

Taiwan's stock market was closed and schools and offices shut as heavy rainfall and fierce winds battered the north. Troops have been deployed to northeastern areas and fishing boats called back to ports.

Mountain communities were particularly at risk with warnings over landslides, authorities said. More than 1,000 villagers were evacuated from the remote township of Chien-shih in Hsinchu county which had been deluged with 300mm (12 inches) of rain by Friday afternoon.

"The speed of winds and the amount of rainfall in the north and northeast have been on the rise in the past few hours," Taiwan's weather bureau said.

A number of flights in and out of Okinawa and northern Taiwan have been cancelled.

China's National Meteorological Center issued a red alert, the highest, on Friday morning for Chan-Hom, according to state news agency Xinhua. The storm is due to pass northern Taiwan overnight before making landfall on the east coast of mainland China.

More than 10,000 people have been evacuated from the coastal province of Zhejiang and 10,000 fishing vessels returned to harbour for shelter. People on coastal fishing farms in Fujian province were also asked to move out Friday morning.

Chan-hom was expected to hit eastern China's coastline early Saturday and is forecast to change course and head northeast toward Shanghai and the Korean peninsula.

Hot on the heels of Chan-hom, Typhoon Nangka was swelling over the Pacific Ocean Friday and is expected to travel northwest towards Japan's Ryukyu Islands in the coming days. The Japan Meteorological Agency described the intensity of the storm as "very strong".

Hong Kong had been braced Thursday for severe tropical storm Linfa but it weakened after making landfall on the coast of the southern Chinese province of Guangdong and skirted the city late at night making little impact.