Typhoon Chaba lashes Kume Island with 59.7 m/s winds

The 18th typhoon of the season, Chaba, that approached Okinawa Main Island Monday and Tuesday, developed into the strongest of the season so far to approach Japan with a central atmospheric pressure dropping to 905 hpa.

Although the main island avoided the bulk of the typhoon, Kume Island bore a direct hit of the storm in the early morning of Oct. 4. The island experienced strong thunderstorms and was lashed with maximum instantaneous wind speed of 59.7 m/s recorded at 0:49 on Tuesday.

According to Okinawa Electric Power Co., 3,360 households, almost all of the residences in Kumejima Town, were out of power around midnight when the center of the typhoon was the closest. The typhoon also broke utility poles and tore off roofs of sports facilities and other buildings.

Residents of Kumejima Town were busy cleaning broken windows and clogged drains on Tuesday. 1,300 households were still without power as of 23:00 on the same day.

According to Okinawa Prefecture officials, no one was injured. There were 40 damage reports to Kumejima Town Office of windows and broken trees by Tuesday evening. Officials at the office estimated that the number of damage reports would eventually reach about 100.

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16:32 29 Mar , 2024