<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Nearly two million people in Japan have been asked to seek shelter before Typhoon Nanmadol, national broadcaster NHK said, as the weather agency issued a rare “special warning” about the powerful storm, which is expected to make landfall on Sunday.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">NHK, which compiles alerts issued by local authorities, said on Saturday that level four evacuation instructions – the second highest – were in place for people in Kagoshima, Kumamoto and Miyazaki in the southern Kyushu region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The move came as the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest alert for the Kagoshima region, a warning that comes when it forecasts conditions seen only once in several decades.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is the first typhoon-linked special warning issued outside of the Okinawa region since the current system began in 2013.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Saturday evening, Typhoon Nanmadol was classed at the agency’s top category of “violent”, and was packing gusts of up to 270km/hour (168mph) as it hovered about 200km (124 miles) north-northeast of Minami Daito island, part of a string of remote isles that form the Okinawa region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The typhoon is expected to approach or make landfall on Sunday in Kagoshima prefecture, then move north the following day before heading towards Japan’s main island.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“There are risks of unprecedented storms, high waves, storm surges, and record rainfall,” Ryuta Kurora, the head of the Japan Meteorological Agency’s forecast unit, told reporters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Maximum caution is required,” he said, urging residents to evacuate early.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It’s a very dangerous typhoon.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The wind will be so fierce that some houses might collapse,” Kurora told reporters, also warning of flooding and landslides.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>Typhoon season</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The evacuation warnings call on people to move to shelters or alternative accommodations that can withstand extreme weather.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But they are not mandatory, and during past extreme weather events, authorities have struggled to convince residents to take shelter quickly enough.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kurora said even inside strong buildings, residents should take precautions.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Please move into sturdy buildings before violent winds start to blow and stay away from windows even inside sturdy buildings,” he told a late-night news conference.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Japan is currently in typhoon season and faces about 20 such storms a year, routinely seeing heavy rains that cause landslides or flash floods.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In 2019, Typhoon Hagibis smashed into Japan as it hosted the Rugby World Cup, killing more than 100 people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A year earlier, Typhoon Jebi shut down Kansai Airport in Osaka, while 14 people were killed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the country’s annual rainy season.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before Typhoon Nanmadol’s arrival, flight cancellations began to affect regional airports, including those in Kagoshima, Miyazaki and Kumamoto, according to the websites of Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Scientists say climate change is increasing the severity of storms and causing extreme weather such as heatwaves, droughts and flash floods to become more frequent and intense. Source: Aljajira</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>