Typhoon Ampil neared eastern Japan with strong winds Friday and dumped heavy rain on the greater Tokyo area, flooding some streets, forcing evacuations and causing widespread disruptions to businesses and travel.
Japanese authorities have warned that the storm could bring violent wind, high waves and the risk of landslides. Ampil had maximum sustained winds of 132 mph Friday morning, similar in strength to a Category 4 hurricane, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.
Rain began falling in parts of the greater Tokyo area early Friday. By around noon, the storm had flooded roads and felled trees in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, according to the local news media.
Ampil’s most powerful winds and heaviest rain were expected to reach Japan by Friday evening, though the storm was not expected to make landfall, forecasters said.
Up to 8 inches of rain were forecast in the Tokyo area and the Izu Islands, south of the capital, for the 24-hour period starting Friday morning, the Japan Meterological Agency said.
Wind speeds of up to 56 mph were forecast in the Tokyo area, forecasters warned.
The agency on Friday issued flood, heavy rain and high wave warnings for the Izu Islands and areas around Tokyo, including Chiba, Fukushima and Shizuoka prefectures. Some of those warnings were expected to last into Saturday.
The city of Mobara, east of Tokyo, issued evacuation orders Thursday for residents in areas prone to landslides and floods, citing the possibility of damage from the typhoon. The city also suspended its municipal buses Friday.
Ampil has also disrupted Japan’s delivery system. Japan Post and Yamato Transport suspended operations in several prefectures. Sagawa Express said that delays caused by traffic restrictions and ferry and flight cancellations would affect areas as far as Hokkaido, in northern Japan.
Tokyo Disneyland said that it would close at 3 p.m. Friday because of the typhoon, shortening its operations by six hours.
Travel disruptions began Thursday when airlines and train operators suspended some services in anticipation of the bad weather caused by the typhoon.
Bullet trains connecting Tokyo and Nagoya, a nearby city, were canceled for Friday. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines said they had canceled more than 670 flights that were scheduled for Friday and Saturday, affecting more than 120,000 passengers.
Ampil is forecast to move north along Japan’s east coast before swerving eastward Saturday, away from the country and into the Pacific, according to a storm track published by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Typhoons are tropical cyclones that have formed in the Western Pacific or Indian Oceans carrying sustained winds of at least 74 mph. Hurricanes are tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean with winds of 74 mph or greater.