Japan awaits ultra-powerful typhoon:900 thousand people evacuated

Typhoon Shanshan, "extremely powerful", will soon hit the coasts of Japan, which has placed on maximum alert.

• Typhoon Shanshan is about to hit the coast of Japan
• The phenomenon is considered to be of extreme intensity.The government evacuated around 900 thousand people
• Torrential rains are expected, also because the tropical cyclone moves slowly

A typhoon defined as “extremely powerful” is approaching the large southern island of Kyushu, in Japan, inhabited by 12.5 million people.The Tokyo government has taken extraordinary measures, as this is a phenomenon of rare violence.Named Shanshan, the typhoon was located at noon on Wednesday (Italian time) about a hundred kilometers from Yakushima island, and already presents gusts that reach up to 252 kilometers per hour.

1,100 mm of rain expected in 48 hours in Japan

“We have to wait very violent winds, very high waves and a storm the intensity of which most of us have never experienced,” government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told the press.Depression has already caused heavy rains in numerous regions of Japan.On Tuesday evening one landslide and dragged with it a house in which there were five people in the city of Gamagori It is located on the Pacific coast in the center of the Asian country.Two members of the family were rescued, but the others are missing.

The forecasts of meteorologists are particularly disturbing:the southern portion of Kyushu is expected to receive 500 millimeters of rain in just 24 hours starting from the morning of Thursday 29 August.To which they will be added another 600 millimetres on Friday.Also for this reason the automotive giant Toyota ordered the closure of all factories for two days.

Typhoon Shanshan is very dangerous also because it moves slowly

Hoping to limit the number of casualties and casualties, Japan has arranged the evacuation of almost 900 thousand people, as indicated by the government agency that deals with fires and disasters.At the same time, the airline Japan Airlines canceled dozens of flights domestic and international.

Typhoon Shanshan is particularly dangerous also because it moves slowly, which means it will lash Japanese territory for a long time, even hitting the Tokyo region on Friday.The movement of the eye of the storm, in fact, is slowed down by contrary winds present at altitude.

The impact of climate change on tropical cyclones

Second a study published in July in the scientific journal Climate and Atmospheric Science, i typhoons in the Japanese region they will form increasingly closer to the coasts, intensify more rapidly and remain active for longer.All this because of climate changes, as they “will result in significant changes in the behavior of tropical cyclones in Southeast Asia,” particularly due to warmer ocean waters.