Typhoon Lan drenches Japan; highways closed, hundreds of flights cancelled

Typhoon Lan: Hundreds of flights cancelled in Japan

Torrential rains and strong winds from Typhoon Lan's passage across Japan on Monday caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the closing of highways.

Typhoon Lan, the 21st of the 2017 Pacific typhoon season, landed in the eastern prefecture of Shizuoka at around 3 a.m. local time with wind gusts of up to 200 km per hour, according to Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), Efe news reported.

Two major Japanese airlines - Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) - cancelled about 170 domestic and international flights scheduled for Monday, which affected around 43,000 passengers.

The high-speed train service Tokaido Shinkansen line - linking Tokyo with the west of the country - was interrupted and different sections of highways have been cut on the main island of Honshu.

Heavy rainfall caused by Typhoon Lan on Sunday mainly affected the western end of the country, where two people were killed in Fukuoka and Yamaguchi prefectures.

According to the public broadcaster NHK, one person reportedly went missing in Wakayama after a house was buried by a landslide and around 89 were injured.

Evacuation orders were declared in hundreds of localities on Honshu Island and the residents in nearly 200 towns were advised to take refuge in the municipal shelters.

According to the JMA, Typhoon Lan, after crossing north of Tokyo and Chiba prefecture at 9.45 a.m. local time, is now over the Pacific again, about 80 km from the coastal town of Iwaki (about 170 km northeast of the Japanese capital) and still maintains winds of about 160 km per hour.

Typhoon Lan will affect the eastern fringe of Hokkaido Island in the next few hours while progressively weakening, expects the JMA.