Typhoon Haishen slams into Japan and South Korea leaving one dead & 84 injured in horror floods and mudslides

ONE person has died and 84 left injured after typhoon Haishen slammed into Japan and South Korea.

The tropical cyclone has destroyed buildings, flooded roads and cut off power to thousands of homes.

Four people are missing after 112mph winds battered Japan yesterday before barreling into South Korea and sparking mudslides.

In Japan, a woman in her 70s died in Akune City, Kagoshima Prefecture, after evacuating her home and falling into a gutter on Sunday, reports.

The publication reported another 84 people were injured by falling due to the strong wind caused by the typhoon.

Four people are said to be missing.

In South Korea, cars struggled to navigate flooded roads in Ulsan and other coastal cities such as Busan, Sokcho and Gangneung.

Emergency workers scrambled to clean up toppled trees and damaged traffic signs, buildings, and other structures.

Hundreds of flights in and out of the southern island province of Jeju and across the mainland have been canceled.

Some bridges and railroad sections were shut down, thousands of fishing boats and other vessels were moved to safety, and more than 1,600 residents in the southern mainland regions evacuated due to the possibility of landslides and other concerns.

The typhoon is forecast to be downgraded to a tropical storm within 12 hours.

It comes as seven million people were warned to get ready to evacuate their homes as a powerful tropical storm battered Japan amid warnings of 134mph winds strong enough to flatten trees.

Typhoon Haishen hit the southern mainland on Sunday cutting off power to tens of thousands of families and prompting authorities to order around 1.8 million people to get out of the path of the cyclone.

A further 5.6 million people were issued with lower-level evacuation advisories as torrential rain lashed communities near the coast, Japan’s national broadcaster NHK reported.

They were advised to move to designated shelters in places like schools and community centres.

The country’s weather agency has now urged people to exercise “serious caution” amid the threat of record rain, powerful winds and shocking waves.

“Record-level rainfall is expected. It may cause landslides or it could cause even large rivers to flood,” said Yoshihisa Nakamoto, director of the forecast division at the Japan Meteorological Agency.

He then went on to warn surging tides could cause widespread flooding particularly in low-lying areas.

“This typhoon is headed toward and may potentially make landfall in Kyushu, bringing record rains, winds, waves and high tides,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at a meeting with cabinet ministers earlier.

“I am asking that people exercise the utmost caution.”

Authorities urged evacuations for people in areas across seven prefectures in southern Japan, public broadcaster NHK said.

Elderly citizens wearing face masks due to the coronavirus outbreak were seen gathering at evacuation centres in Kagoshima and other parts of southern Japan.

The typhoon has cut power to some 180,000 homes, NHK reported adding that public transport services were all stopped in the affected prefectures.

Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency said two injuries had been reported.

The typhoon was forecast to approach the Goto Islands west of Nagasaki around 3am on Monday local time and then move to the Korean peninsula, according to the meteorological agency.

One evacuation centre in Miyazaki reached capacity and stopped accepting evacuees as a precaution against the coronavirus, according to reports.

Airlines have already cancelled more than 500 flights departing from Okinawa and southern Japan.

Bullet train services in southern and western Japan were also suspended.

Japan’s coastguard suspended for a second day its search for crew missing from a ship that capsized in the East China Sea last week with a cargo of cattle.

Two survivors and the body of a third crew member were found before the search was suspended, and the coast guard said it will resume the operation when Haishen clears the region.

The storm follows Typhoon Maysak, which smashed into the Korean peninsula on Thursday, leaving at least two dead and thousands temporarily without power.