TOKYO – Rail and air transportation in Japan were disrupted on Saturday following Typhoon Shanshan, which was downgraded to a tropical storm on Friday and has resulted in six deaths, according to official sources.
The Kyodo news agency reported that Central Japan Railway Company suspended its Tokaido Shinkansen trains between Gifu-Hashima and Maibara on Saturday morning due to torrential rain. While services between Tokyo and Nagoya had already been halted, most of the Tokaido Shinkansen Line was paralysed on Saturday morning.
The company later resumed services on the eastern section of the line between Tokyo and Mishima, but operations between Mishima and Nagoya will remain suspended until Sunday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency has warned that parts of the Tokai region in central Japan could experience heavy rain through Sunday due to the humid air brought by the typhoon.
Shanshan, one of the most powerful typhoons to hit Japan in recent decades, struck the island of Kyushu on Thursday before being downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved up the archipelago. It has resulted in at least six deaths and over 120 injuries, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
Despite being downgraded, with wind speeds reduced from 252 km/h to 90 km/h, the situation remains challenging. Airlines ANA and Japan Airlines have cancelled around sixty domestic flights on Saturday, affecting nearly 7,200 passengers.
In response to the ongoing threat, a city in the central Gifu region has issued an evacuation advisory for its 2,000 residents near a swollen river.
More than 32,000 households in the Kagoshima region (south), where Shanshan made landfall on Thursday, are still without electricity, according to the utility provider.
Previously, from August 15 to 17, Typhoon Ampil had caused similar train and flight disruptions but resulted in only minor injuries and damage as it moved up the Pacific coast off the Tokyo region.
