News

Typhoon Jongdari causes havoc in Japan

With winds of 110mph, Typhoon Jongdari took an unusual westbound trajectory across Honshu, staying north of Shikoku and finally crossing Kyushu. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took the rare step of advising evacuation, particularly for those in western Japan, where flooding killed 224 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes earlier this month.

Evacuation orders were issued to 36,400 people in the western city of Shobara, and 6,300 in the city of Kure.

An interesting consequence of the geography of Honshu was that a hot Fohn wind blew into Niigata Prefecture. A Fohn wind is the result of moist air drying out over mountains and descending as a warm and dry blow on the lee side. This led to temperatures rising to close to 40C.

At least 80 people have been killed by the temperature, and more than 22,000 hospitalised with heat stroke.