Flights grounded as Typhoon Halong heads for south Japan

A flight information board shows flights cancelled due to Typhoon Halong at Tokyo's Haneda airport departure lobby on Aug 9, 2014. A strong typhoon lashed large areas of south-west Japan on Saturday, grounding some 460 flights and stranding thou
A flight information board shows flights cancelled due to Typhoon Halong at Tokyo's Haneda airport departure lobby on Aug 9, 2014. A strong typhoon lashed large areas of south-west Japan on Saturday, grounding some 460 flights and stranding thousands of holidaymakers, officials and local media said. -- PHOTO: AFP 

TOKYO (AFP) - A strong typhoon lashed large areas of south-west Japan on Saturday, grounding some 460 flights and stranding thousands of holidaymakers, officials and local media said.

Typhoon Halong, packing winds of up to 198 kmph, could make landfall in south-west Japan late Saturday or early Sunday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The outer bands of the storm have already brought heavy rain and strong winds to large areas of the Japanese archipelago, as television footage showed high waves triggered by the typhoon splashing over breakwaters.

The storm and torrential rains earlier this week have left one dead and four injured, public broadcaster NHK said.

At least 460 flights were cancelled due to the storm, which came as Japan had just begun its annual "Obon" summer holiday, NHK said.

Over the next 24 hours, the storm was expected to dump 70cm of rain on the south-west island of Shikoku, which had already been lashed by by downpours from another typhoon last weekend, the national weather agency said.

The agency warned of major landslides and floods mainly in western Japan, while local authorities in Tokushima in Shikoku issued an evacuation advisory to some 44,100 residents, officials said.

The typhoon, which was about 210km off Shikoku's southern tip at 0400 GMT, was moving northeast at 15 kmph, the agency said.

Halong comes a month after Typhoon Neoguri killed several people and left a trail of destruction in southern Japan.

Last weekend, a man drowned in a raging river while more than half a million people were advised to evacuate as heavy rain from Typhoon Nakri lashed the country.

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