TOKYO, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- At least two people were killed and 15 injured as Typhoon Noru, the fifth of this season, drew near Japan's main islands on Sunday, bringing violent winds and torrential rain.
According to Japan's public broadcaster NHK, a man in his 60s in Kagoshima prefecture was blown over by the strong wind on Saturday and died a day later, while another man aged 84 was found at a dock in the prefecture on Sunday.
As of 8 p.m. local time, the typhoon was 130 kilometers south-southwest of Cape Ashizuri, the southernmost point of the Shikoku island, western Japan, and was moving north-northeast at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).
The typhoon, with central atmospheric pressure at 975 hectopascals, had winds at a speed of 30 meters per second near its center, with gusts reaching nearly 45 meters per second.
The typhoon was expected to approach the Shikoku island early Monday morning and was possible to make landfall before noon, said the weather agency.
The agency warned about possible flooding, mudslides, violent winds, and high waves.
Evacuation orders have been issued to a total of some 16,000 people in 6,200 households in southwestern Japan, and another 450, 000 people in 212,000 households have been advised to evacuate as of 9:30 p.m. local time.
More than 15,000 households in Kagoshima suffered power outage at one point on Sunday morning, and by 8 p.m. local time, at least 2,500 of them were still without electricity, according to the Kyushu Electric Power Company.
A total of 292 flights scheduled to take off from airports in Kagoshima prefecture and Koyazaki precture in southwestern Japan and dozens from western Japan were canceled due to the typhoon on Sunday.
