In Japan, nearly 200,000 residents called to evacuate after the passage of a typhoon

In Matsuyama, in the west of the country, authorities fear landslides and floods in the wake of Typhoon Kong-rey, which caused damage in Taiwan.

Nearly 200,000 residents of Matsuyama, a city in western Japan, were called to evacuate by the authorities on Saturday November 2. They fear landslides and flooding due to heavy rains after Typhoon Kong-rey.

This city located in the Ehime department, near Hiroshima, “issued a higher level alert, asking 189,552 residents in its 10 neighborhoods to evacuate and take shelter immediately”a city official told AFP. But these evacuations are not obligatory.

According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, “hot and humid air (…) causes heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms in western Japan”, partly because of the Kong-rey phenomenon, a powerful typhoon which hit Taiwan on Thursday, before being downgraded to a depression.

The agency warned of possible landslides and flooding in western Japan on Saturday and in the east on Sunday. Due to rain, Shinkansen bullet train traffic was briefly suspended between Tokyo and the Fukuoka region in southern Japan in the morning.

Typhoon Kong-rey caused the death of three people in Taiwan, while 690 injuries were recorded. Nearly 28,000 residents of the island state were still without electricity on Saturday, after cuts initially affected nearly a million residents.