Philip Patrick Philip Patrick

Shanshan may be the strongest typhoon in Japanese history

Yufu city, Oita prefecture (Photo: Getty)

The Japanese are battening down the hatches – again – as typhoon Shanshan wreaks devastation to the south-west of the country, with worse, possibly much worse, to come for the rest of us further north. Millions of people have been told to flee their homes in the face of what officials are calling one of the strongest storms ever to hit the region. Shanshan may even prove to one of the strongest typhoons in Japanese history – which is some boast. 

It is shaping up to be something close to the perfect storm in terms of its power and unpredictability

Four people have died so far with 94 injured, but those figures will increase greatly as the hours pass. An ultra-rare ‘special warning’ has been issued in some regions by the meteorological agency. The typhoon is currently centred on the southern island of Kysuhu – it hit the city of Nagasaki on Thursday – but it is expected to migrate.

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