8/26/12 Powerful Typhoon Bolaven Hits Japan

 

 

A Typhoon is a name used in east Asia for a Hurricane. It is a type of cyclone occurring in the western regions of the Pacific Ocean. A typhoon is similar to a hurricane in levels of destructiveness. The word typhoon comes from the Chinese term tai-fung meaning great wind. See "What is a cyclone?" for a fuller definition.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_typhoon#ixzz24h6FniRa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Typhoon Bolaven outside balcony in Ishikawa Okinawa Japan. This is still early but it is starting to pick up. Supposedly it's the worst typhoon in 13 years for Okinawa

A man walks down a lane of water damaged furniture from heavy rains brought by Typhoon Tembin in Pingtung county, Taiwan, Friday, Aug. 24, 2012. The typhoon crossed over southern Taiwan on Friday morning, causing flooding and wind damage but largely sparing the island's heavily populated areas. (AP Photo)

 

TAIWAN OUT

 

TOKYO -- The strongest typhoon to hit Okinawa in several years lashed the southern Japanese island and surrounding areas Sunday, injuring four people and cutting off power to about 30,000 households.

Residents were told to stay indoors and warned that the storm's powerful winds could overturn cars and cause waves of up to 12 meters.

The center of slow-moving Typhoon Bolaven was expected to pass over the island Sunday night, dumping as much as 500 millimeters of rain over a 24-hour period, weather officials said.

About 27,000 households on the island of Amami, north of Okinawa, were without electricity, and 3,100 households on Okinawa also lost power. Video footage from Naha, the prefectural capital, showed trees thrashed by the high winds, some with broken branches, and largely empty streets.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said wind speeds near the center of the typhoon were about 180 kilometers per hour, with extremely strong gusts reaching 252 kph. Those winds could knock over telephone poles and overturn cars, while waves around the island could top 12 meters, public broadcaster NHK warned.

Okinawa disaster authorities said four people were injured.

All domestic and international flights in and out of Naha Airport were canceled.

The typhoon, the 15th of the season, was expected to continue into the East China Sea without losing much power and then into the Yellow Sea, possibly affecting southern coastal areas of South Korea by Tuesday, Japanese weather officials said.

Gusts from the typhoon could equal or surpass the previous record for Naha of 265 kph (165 mph) in a 1956 typhoon, said Tsukasa Uezu, an official with the Okinawa Meteorological Observatory Weather Information Center.

Chinese state media reported that Bolaven would bring gales and heavy rain to China's northeastern coast of Zhejiang as it headed towards Jeju.

Downpours were expected in the Shandong Peninsula with winds of 150 kph, Xinhua reported. The Typhoon Bolaven is a powerful Super Typhoon according the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center is moving over Okinawa Japan this evening packing recorded winds above typhoon strength at this time. The Japan Meteorological Agency has issued a slew of warnings for the southern Japanese islands to include Storm Surge, Flood, Gale, Thunderstorms, and more. The winds should continue to roll over the island until Monday morning. Also in this update we look at Tembin and its likely impact in Taiwan as it does a 180 on its track in the South China Sea.

 

The Way I C IT...We are truly living in the end of times and we MUST prepare.

Keep Looking up.