65 flights cancelled in Japan over Typhoon Meari

Heavy rain in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on Saturday as Tropical Storm Meari approaches. - Kyodo/Japan Times/ANN

TOKYO, Aug 13 (Bernama): Sixty-five flights have been cancelled in Japan due to impending Typhoon Meari, Sputnik quoted Japanese broadcaster NHK report on Saturday.

According to the report, 400 households suffered power outages in the Japanese prefecture of Shizuoka, which is expected to be hit by the typhoon in the coming hours. Ferries in the prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba, and Ibaraki have been cancelled.

The Japanese authorities earlier told over 72,000 people in Shizuoka Prefecture to evacuate.

Typhoon Meari, which means echo in Korean, originated south of Japan on Friday.

The typhoon is expected to hit Japan's eastern coast later on Saturday. Shizuoka Prefecture is expected to be the first to be hit. According to Japanese weather services, over 200 millimetres of precipitation have already fallen in the prefecture in the past 24 hours, with up to 300 millimetres expected to fall by Sunday morning.

At the moment, the typhoon is 60 kilometres (37 miles) southwest of Shizuoka Prefecture and is moving northeast at a speed of 20 km per hour, packing sustained winds of up to 72 km per hour.

The typhoon is expected to reach the northeast coast of Japan on Sunday morning, and then move northeast into the Pacific Ocean. - Bernama