Typhoon Dolphin has cut power to at least 44,000 buildings and injured at least five people after hitting Japan’s Okinawa island on Saturday.
Flights to and from Okinawa’s main airport – Naha International Airport – were cancelled as it closed on Friday as the storm arrived.
The storm had maximum wind speeds of 162km/h (101mph) on Saturday and has been categorised as a “very strong” typhoon by the Japan Meteorological Agency, which warned of high waves, storm surges and lightning strikes.
Dolphin is expected to make landfall on China’s eastern coast late on Sunday or early on Monday. Authorities there have shut ports and schools ahead of its arrival.
The main areas in Japan affected by the typhoon are the islands of Okinawa and Amami in the far south-west of the country.
Five elderly people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Okinawan prefectural government. Three of them fell because of the strong winds, it said.
Japan’s national broadcaster NHK reports numerous accounts of trees being toppled by strong winds throughout Nago city in Okinawa, while a car was found overturned and leaking oil in a parking lot.
