Japan canceled more than 200 flights and suspended dozens of train services as the country prepared for a pair of tropical storms approaching from different directions on Friday.
Hurricanes Mekkhala and Higos were approaching from the southwest and east respectively and were likely to converge over or near the main archipelago.
Which path is Tropical Storm Mekkhala on?
Mekkhala, which was initially rated as a typhoon but later downgraded to a severe tropical storm, already on Friday made landfall just south of the main islands off Taiwan and the Japanese island of Okinawa.
Heavy rain fell in Taiwan, southwest of Okinawa, while flights from Okinawa’s Naha Airport were severely disrupted.
Despite the downgrade, the storm was still packing winds of 144 kilometers (89 miles) per hour on Friday afternoon.
Mekkhala was expected to make landfall on the main Japanese islands in the southwestern region of Kyushu in the early hours of Saturday morning.
What path is Tropical Storm Higos on?
Tropical Storm Higos’ passage into the Philippine Sea southeast of Japan has not yet come close to significant land mass.
However, it is forecast to potentially reach the Japanese mainland south of Tokyo, where it may merge with Mekkhala as the storm moves eastward across Japan.
This can result in an atmospheric phenomenon known as the Fujiwara effect, when two nearby cyclones interact with each other, often unpredictably, making their strength and speed difficult to predict.
How were officials and companies responding?
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways canceled a total of 120 flights to and from Okinawa and Kagoshima, a city on the southern tip of Kyushu.
Nearly 10 lakh people have been advised to leave their homes as a precautionary measure amid the fear of landslides.
Kyodo news agency reported that Toyota had suspended production at a facility in Kyushu due to road closures caused by rain, with Nissan also saying it planned to halt some production lines.
Heavy rain was already reported in western Japan on Friday afternoon as the typhoon moved towards Kyushu.
Authorities in Kyoto and Osaka in the northeast said water levels in rivers were rising and warned of possible flooding.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic
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