Millions urged to evacuate as powerful Typhoon Dujuan hits Japan

ByJamie Whitehead and Kelly Ng.

Key points

• Dujuan has had sustained winds of 130km/h (80.8mph) and gusts of 194 km/h.
• She had been due in New York on Tuesday to meet with US President Donald Trump and speak at the UN General Assembly.
• The level four warnings remain in Shinagawa Ward, Toshima Village, and Niijima Village.
• Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has reportedly delayed her trip to the United States this week to monitor the effects of the typhoon.
• While hundreds of flights have been cancelled and rail services have been suspended, solid winds caused power cuts for more than 50, 000 residents.

Almost two million individuals are under evacuation orders in Japan as Typhoon Dujuan batters a number of the country's prefectures.

Japan's Meteorological Agency had cautioned of an "imminent threat to life", but a number of warnings have now been downgraded, with the danger to life warning remaining in place in Oshima Town.

Dujuan has had sustained winds of 130km/h (80.8mph) and gusts of 194 km/h. It is the latest in a series of storms in the Pacific, created more intense by the "super El Niño". It has warmed the ocean, fuelling the formation of storms.

In practice, the level three warnings, for heavy rain, and the level four warnings, for landslides have now been either downgraded or lifted by the Japan Meteorological Agency in most areas.

Meanwhile, the level four warnings remain in Shinagawa Ward, Toshima Village, and Niijima Village. Authorities have advised the public to pay attention to weather information.

Dujuan, which is Japan's 25th typhoon of the year, has hit in the midst of a five-day holiday and forced the cancellation of a number of events.

While the Tokyo Game Show, a video game convention, has additionally cancelled Monday's programme, concerts scheduled for Monday at the Rock in Japan music festival have been cancelled.

Notably, the Yokosuka City Fire Department informed the BBC that a woman who lived in the house, aged in her 60s, may have been swept away and is believed to have been buried alive.

Separately, Sodegaura City Fire Department in Chiba prefecture informed the BBC a man in his 50s was rescued after getting trapped while working to clear debris at a landslide site.

Meanwhile, the department remarked the worker fell into a bamboo thicket, along with some heavy machinery. He was then taken to hospital.

Firefighters in Kanagawa prefecture remarked they received a call from a man who noted his house had been crushed by a landslide.

Some research suggests that Japan has become more exposed to destructive storms, but climate change is not thought to be increasing the number of these storms globally, and could even create them less common in some regions.

As temperatures rise, typhoons that do form are probable to become more intense on average, even so.

Warmer ocean waters mean storms can pick up more energy, leading to higher wind speeds.

And since a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, these storms could additionally bring heavier rainfall.

This year, El Niño – the natural weather phenomenon bringing warmer water to parts of the tropical Pacific – is another factor.

El Niño doesn't have a clear effect on the total number of typhoons, but it can affect where typhoons form, their strength and which countries they hit.

Some El Niño events may expose Japan to stronger typhoons, for example.

In practice, the typhoon is continuing to travel along the country's Pacific coast, heading north. The extent of the damage today may not be known until Tuesday. Extra reporting by Mark Poynting, climate reporter.

Taken together, the developments around millions urged to evacuate as powerful Typhoon Dujuan hits Japan point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.