UpdateWeakened Typhoon Neoguri still packs torrential punch as it hits Japan
A man died, more than 500,000 people were urged to evacuate and hundreds of flights were cancelled as a strong typhoon brought torrential rain and high winds to Japan's southwestern islands.
A man died, more than 500,000 people were urged to evacuate and hundreds of flights were cancelled as a strong typhoon brought torrential rain and high winds to Japan's southwestern islands. It could bring heavy rain to Tokyo later this week.
Typhoon Neoguri weakened from its status as a super typhoon but remained intense, with gusts of more than 250km/h. It was powering through the Okinawa island chain, where emergency rain and high-seas warnings were in effect.
Watch: Japan issues highest alert over typhoon Neoguri
The storm was at its most powerful when passing Okinawa, some 1,600km southwest of Tokyo, yesterday, but the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned of heavy rains and potential flooding in Kyushu, the westernmost of Japan's main islands, as well as heavy rain in the rest of the nation as the storm turns east later in the week.
"People must take the utmost caution," Keiji Furuya, state minister in charge of disaster management, said.