Nine million forced to evacuate in Japan as super-typhoon kills at least two

Authorities have urged millions of people to evacuate in Japan following one of strongest typhoons ever recorded.

Civilians are being forced to leave their homes after the super-typhoon turned deadly, killing at least two people.

Typhoon Nanmadol hit Japan last Sunday morning (18 September) and brought with it severe winds of up to a staggering 145mph (233 km/h).

The evacuation numbers have since skyrocketed from a huge four million people to over double at nine million.

The super-typhoon first hit Japan near the city of Kagoshima which resides on the island Kyushu - one of the four islands that comprise the main body of Japan.

It then travelled from Kyushu all the way over to Honshu yesterday morning (19 September) leaving a destructive trail of flooded streets, ruined houses and battered buildings.

With destructively heavy rains reaching up to 20 inches in some areas paired with the winds strong enough to ruin the infrastructure of the area - millions have been made to flee their homes in order to reach safety.

The World Meteorological Organization has since released a statement on Sunday (18 September) in which it dubbed the natural disaster 'one of the strongest typhoons ever seen.'

It alerted people that 'Japan's Meteorological Agency is forecasting torrential rain, storm surges along the coast, and winds so powerful houses could collapse.'

The Joint Cyclone Center also took to Twitter to spread awareness of the destructive super-typhoon dubbing it a 'life-threatening storm surge, extremely dangerous, very strong and destructive winds, extreme rainfall and catastrophic flooding to affected the parts of Kyushu during the next couple of few hours...'

The storm has since left around 300,000 Japanese homes without any power, leaving thousands to sleep in emergency shelters alongside causing huge transport disruptions.

According to local media, one man was found dead inside his car, which was submerged up to its roof in the middle of a field, while another man died after being caught in a landslide.

The news outlet report that over 120 have been injured due to the typhoon, according to data collected as of 11:00pm on Monday.

The Meteorological Agency said: "That as of 6 a.m. on Tuesday (20 September), Nanmadol was moving east-northeast near Yamagata City at a speed of 55 kilometers per hour."

Typhoon Nanmadol is Japan's 14th typhoon of the season.

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Topics: World News, News

Rhiannon Ingle

Rhiannon Ingle is a Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from the University of Manchester in 2021 in English Literature. Alongside her studies, she was the Lifestyle Editor of The Mancunian, the largest student newspaper in the United Kingdom. Her favourite topics to write about include sex and relationships, bizarre lifestyle trends and all things travel.