Typhoon Khanun, a tropical cyclone that recently wreaked havoc in southern Japan, causing casualties and devastation, is now making its way back towards Japan and South Korea. The storm, currently situated around 120 miles south of Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost main island, is hovering over smaller islands such as Kikai, Amami, and Yakushima. Japan’s meteorological agency predicts that the typhoon’s eye will pass close to Kyushu before hitting the southern coast of South Korea on Thursday morning, as forecasted by Korean meteorologists.
Last week, when Khanun hit Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost prefecture, it resulted in two fatalities, injured almost 100 people, and caused widespread power outages. Initially, the storm was heading northwest towards China, but it changed course over the weekend and moved east towards Japan’s southern islands. On Tuesday, it altered its trajectory again, this time moving north towards Kyushu and South Korea.
Both Japan and South Korea have been making preparations for the storm, including issuing warnings about landslides, floods, and evacuation orders. In South Korea, tens of thousands of teenagers participating in the 25th World Scout Jamboree, who were already enduring a severe heat wave, have been forced to leave their campsite due to the approaching typhoon.
Khanun, named after the jackfruit, was contributed to the Typhoon Committee by Thailand. As of Tuesday noon in Japan, the United States military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii recorded maximum sustained windspeeds of 58 mph. According to the US meteorologists’ five-category wind scale used to measure hurricanes, Khanun would be classified as a tropical storm. The cyclone’s winds are expected to slightly strengthen, peaking at around 63 mph on Thursday afternoon.
A tropical cyclone is a powerful storm that originates over a tropical ocean, producing strong winds, heavy rainfall, and high waves. Hurricanes are the term used for cyclones forming around the Americas, while those in Asia are referred to as typhoons.
In related news, a previous typhoon named Doksuri recently hit southern China with the intensity of a Category 2 hurricane before moving north to Beijing, where it claimed the lives of at least 11 people.
Japan and South Korea have already endured an unusually severe monsoon season this summer. South Korea witnessed heavy monsoon rains for nearly a month, resulting in the deaths of 47 people, including 14 who were trapped in a flooded highway underpass. In Kyushu, Japan, officials reported the heaviest rainfall ever observed in the region, causing at least six fatalities.
Contributing reporting from Tokyo, Hikari Hida.
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