TOKYO: A powerful typhoon slammed into central Japan early Sunday, prompting local authorities to issue evacuation orders, with western areas recently devastated by floods and landslides in the storm’s crosshairs.
Typhoon Jongdari, packing winds of up to 180 kilometers (110 miles) an hour, made landfall in Ise in Mie prefecture at around 1:00 am (1600 GMT Saturday), according to the nation’s public broadcaster NHK.
The storm, which had already dumped torrential rain over eastern Japan, was moving west maintaining its strength, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said.
TV footage showed high waves smashing onto rocks and seawalls on the coastline in Shimoda, southwest of Tokyo, and trees buffeted by strong winds and heavy rain.
One man was reportedly missing in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, after several vehicles, including an ambulance, became stuck on a wave-battered ocean road.
The storm is expected to barrel toward the western Chugoku region later on Sunday, where record rainfall earlier this month unleashed flooding and landslides, killing around 220 people and leaving more than 4,000 survivors still living in temporary shelters.
The weather agency warned of heavy rain, landslides, strong winds and high waves, and urged people to consider early evacuation.
“We want people especially in the downpour-hit regions to pay close attention to evacuation adviseries,” meteorological agency official Minako Sakurai told reporters.
The western city of Shobara in Hiroshima prefecture issued an evacuation order to some 36,400 residents, including 991 who urgently needed to move to shelters, officials said.
TV footage showed workers and residents hurriedly piling up sand bags to build temporary barriers against potential floods.
“We strongly urge residents to take action before the typhoon hits the region,” Masaharu Kataoka, a city official, told AFP.
More evacuation orders and adviseries were issued in western Japan, including Kure in Hiroshima prefecture, where some 6,380 residents were urged to evacuate, news reports said.
In Japan, evacuation orders are not mandatory and people often remain at home, and are later trapped by rapidly rising water or sudden landslides.
“It’s going to deal a double punch,” a resident in Okayama told public broadcaster NHK, referring to the recent killer downpours and the incoming typhoon.
“We are seriously worried,” he said.
More than 410 domestic flights have been canceled so far because of Typhoon Jongdari, while ferry services connecting Tokyo with nearby islands were also canceled due to high waves, news reports said.
The flooding in the Chugoku region was Japan’s worst weather-related disaster in decades, and many residents of affected areas are still living in shelters or damaged homes.
“We are fully ready 24 hours a day to evacuate residents,” Tadahiko Mizushima, an official of Okayama prefecture in Chugoku, told AFP.
“We are paying special attention to the areas where restoration of river banks is under way as it would be the first heavy rain since the disaster.”
Officials are particularly cautious after the deadly downpours because many people did not heed evacuation orders and became trapped. Some critics said the orders were issued too late.
“We are afraid that people may not be able to evacuate due to strong wind or floods blocking evacuation routes,” Hiroshima governor Hidehiko Yuzaki told reporters.
“I would like people to evacuate in advance so that they can save their lives,” Yuzaki said.
Japan is now in typhoon season, and is regularly struck by major storm systems during the summer and autumn.
Typhoon slams into Japan, approaches disaster-hit regions
Typhoon slams into Japan, approaches disaster-hit regions
- The storm, which had already dumped torrential rain over eastern Japan, was moving west maintaining its strength
- TV footage showed high waves smashing onto rocks and seawalls on the coastline in Shimoda, southwest of Tokyo
Suspect arrested after a fire damages a historic Mississippi synagogue
- The 160-year-old synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson, was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967
- The synagogue will continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, likely at one of the local churches that reached out
Congregants and leaders vowed to rebuild a historic Mississippi synagogue that was heavily damaged by fire and an individual was taken into custody for what authorities said Sunday was an act of arson.
The fire ripped through the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday, authorities said. No congregants were injured in the blaze.
Photos showed the charred remains of an administrative office and synagogue library, where several Torahs were destroyed or damaged.
Jackson Mayor John Horhn confirmed that a person was taken into custody following an investigation that also included the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
“Acts of antisemitism, racism, and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a whole and will be treated as acts of terror against residents’ safety and freedom to worship,” Horhn said in a statement.
He did not provide the name of the suspect or the charges that the person is facing. A spokesperson for the Jackson FBI said they are “working with law enforcement partners on this investigation.”
The 160-year-old synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson, was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967 — a response to the congregation’s role in civil rights activities, according to the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which also houses its office in the building.
“That history reminds us that attacks on houses of worship, whatever their cause, strike at the heart of our shared moral life,” said CJ Rhodes, a prominent Black Baptist pastor in Jackson, in a Facebook post.
“This wasn’t random vandalism — it was a deliberate, targeted attack on the Jewish community,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of The Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.
“That it has been attacked again, amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, is a stark reminder: antisemitic violence is escalating, and it demands total condemnation and swift action from everyone,” Greenblatt said.
The congregation is still assessing the damage and received outreach from other houses of worship, said Michele Schipper, CEO of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life and past president of the congregation. The synagogue will continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, the weekly Jewish Sabbath, likely at one of the local churches that reached out.
“We are a resilient people,” said Beth Israel Congregation President Zach Shemper in a statement. “With support from our community, we will rebuild.”
One Torah that survived the Holocaust was behind glass not damaged in the fire, Schipper said. Five Torahs inside the sanctuary are being assessed for smoke damage. Two Torahs inside the library, where the most severe damage was done, were destroyed, according to a synagogue representative.
The floors, walls and ceiling of the sanctuary were covered in soot, and the synagogue will have to replace upholstery and carpeting.
“A lot of times we hear things happening throughout the country in other parts, and we feel like this wouldn’t happen in our part,” said chief fire investigator Charles Felton “A lot of people are in disbelief that this would happen here in Jackson, Mississippi.”
