Over 300 Flights Canceled as Japan Braces for Typhoon Mawar

Family members watch waves affected by a severe weather system in Itoman, southern Japan, on May 31, 2023, as Typhoon Mawar moves towards the Okinawa islands. (Hiro Komae/AP Photo)

Typhoon Mawar made landfall on Japan’s main southern islands on Friday, causing heavy downpours and leading to significant disruption to domestic flights, with over 300 flights being canceled.

A total of 52 ferry services were canceled, and many train lines were shut down due to the storm, which was moving east of Okinoerabujima over the Pacific Ocean, according to Japan’s Transport Ministry.

Residents in vulnerable areas, particularly in southwestern Japan, were warned of potential flooding and mudslides. At least eight people were injured in Okinawa prefecture, where strong winds persist.

Authorities have issued a heavy rain advisory in Kochi, Wakayama, and Nara prefecture, where bands of thick thunderclouds were forming, local broadcaster NHK reported.

Residents in those areas had been advised to evacuate for their safety and stay alert for flooding.

Kochi’s Tosashimizu City was hit by 350.5 millimeters of rain in the span of 12 hours through 1 p.m. (local time), while Wakayama’s Yuasa town was hit by 74 millimeters of rain, according to the report.

The main body of the storm was expected to pass south of the main island of Honshu as it moved into the Pacific, but forecasters warned there was the danger that humid air from the storm could feed into a seasonal rain front, touching off heavy localized rains.

Typhoon Mawar, which wreaked havoc on Guam last week, has weakened to tropical storm strength from its earlier super typhoon status.

Mawar barreled into Guam as a powerful Category 4 storm on May 24, pummeling the U.S. Pacific territory with high winds, heavy rains, and a dangerous storm surge that swamped low-lying areas.

Guam’s Governor Lou Leon Guerrero ordered the evacuation of low-lying coastal areas and warned that the island could be directly hit by the typhoon or become “a very near-miss.” Only 28 percent of power had been restored in Guam as of Wednesday.

Mawar largely skirted Taiwan and the Philippines after tearing across Guam. It sent waves crashing into Taiwan’s east coast and brought heavy rains to the northern Philippines, though no major damage was reported.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.