Typhoon Aere moving eastward, bringing torrential rain to Japan

TOKYO. KAZINFORM - A typhoon was moving slowly eastward toward the western and central parts of the Japanese archipelago on Tuesday, bringing torrential rain and causing flooding as well as landslides, Kyodo reports.

Typhoon Aere, which made landfall on the southwestern main island of Kyushu before weakening into an extratropical low-pressure system, is expected to destabilize weather conditions nationwide through Wednesday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The weather agency said there appeared to have been record-breaking rainfall in areas of Kyushu, with Unzen, Nagasaki Prefecture, Arao, Kumamoto Prefecture, and Omuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, receiving an estimated 120 millimeters of rain or more in an hour.

The agency also confirmed in the early hours of Tuesday linear rainbands that brought torrential downpours in the western part of Kochi Prefecture on the western main island of Shikoku, where more than 20 houses were flooded and a major road was closed due to landslides.

Elsewhere in Kochi, 85 mm of rain were recorded in an hour in Susaki, and 79.5 mm in the town of Shimanto.

The typhoon made landfall close to Sasebo, Nagasaki, shortly before 6 a.m. It was reduced to an extratropical low-pressure system at 9 a.m. and had an atmospheric pressure of 1,002 hectopascals at its center, the agency said.

Up to 200 mm of rain is projected in the 24 hours through Wednesday noon in Shikoku and the Tokai region in central Japan.