Typhoon Chanthu makes landfall in Japan, reports say 49 flights cancelled

Typhoon Chanthu made landfall in Japan on Saturday, injuring at least five people and cancelling 49 flights. According to Japan's public broadcaster NHK, flights were cancelled in Japan's southwestern regions on the islands of Shikoku and Kyushu. People were injured as a result of the typhoon in Nagasaki, Fukuoka, and Saga prefectures.

Chanthu is now travelling eastward over the central Pacific coast of Japan. The typhoon's wind gusts reached speeds of up to 30 mps (67 miles/hour).

Typhoon Chanthu hits Taiwan

Last week, Typhoon Chanthu swamped Taiwan as its core passed over the island's east coast, but no injuries were recorded.  As the storm approached, airline flights and train operations were cancelled. According to the Central News Agency, about 2,000 people were evacuated from flood-prone areas in the east coast county of Hualien.

According to the Central Weather Bureau, Chanthu's centre was off Taiwan's northeast coast at midmorning Sunday, with winds of 162 kph (101 mph) and gusts up to 198 kph (124 mph). The Weather Bureau said that up to 13 cm (5 inches) of rain fell in certain regions on Sunday. It was predicted to rain up to 20 cm (8 inches).

Heavy rains lash Shanghai

As a typhoon remained offshore, transportation ties in China's commercial capital of Shanghai were mostly restored on Tuesday. Typhoon Chanthu caused strong winds and heavy rain on the country's major city and the surrounding region, but not to the extent that it would have if it had made landfall. 

The storm has weakened and was lingering around 225 kilometres (140 miles) east of Shanghai on Tuesday, with maximum sustained winds of 126 kph hour (78 mph), according to the China Meteorological Association. On Thursday, it was expected to begin heading northeast towards South Korea and Japan.

Earlier, Typhoon In-fa had made landfall south of Shanghai in late July, disrupting flight schedules and forcing the evacuation of over 330,000 people of the city's southernmost district, Fengxian. Torrential rains and flooding killed at least 292 people in Zhengzhou, a major city in the central province of Henan, in July, including several who were trapped in the city's subway tunnels.

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