More than 75,000 households lacked power on Monday after a powerful typhoon lashed the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, injuring four people but doing less damage than feared before moving off to sea.
Weather officials had warned that Typhoon Bolaven would be the strongest to hit the region in several years, but its gusts weren’t as powerful as predicted.
Disaster authorities reported no major damage as of early on Monday aside from the blackouts.
Roughly 75,000 households were without power on Okinawa and the nearby Amami islands as heavy rain and winds continued Monday. Many schools and government offices were closed because of the blackouts. Much of the public transportation system – including buses, shipping and airlines – had also not yet been restored, officials said.
The centre of the slow-moving storm, the 15th of the season, passed over the island late Sunday and was moving northwest into the East China Sea on Monday. It could affect coastal areas of South Korea by Tuesday, weather officials said.
As the typhoon approached Okinawa on Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said wind speeds near the centre of the typhoon were about 180km/h, with gusts reaching 252kph, possibly equalling or surpassing past records for the area.