Flights scrapped, evacuations urged as Typhoon Dujuan wallops Japan

TOKYO: More than one million people were under evacuation advisories in Japan early Tuesday (Sept 22) and hundreds of flights have been cancelled as Typhoon Dujuan brushed past Tokyo, bringing torrential rains, flooding and landslides to the region.

Two people have been confirmed dead as heavy rainfall triggered landslides in Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures near Tokyo, local governments reported according to Japanese media including the Kyodo news agency.

Japan often sees strong typhoons in the late summer and early autumn, and other storms have already disrupted some events at the Asian Games being hosted in the country.

Dujuan was bringing winds of some 144 kilometres per hour Monday as it moved to around 130 kilometres south of Katsuura City near Tokyo.

By early Tuesday the storm had shifted away from the coast and was heading north-east out to sea, with slightly diminished winds, the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.