NAHA, Japan — Typhoon Dolphin struck Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture on Saturday, injuring six people and cutting power to more than 50,000 buildings as the storm brought strong winds and heavy rain, authorities said.
Five elderly people in Okinawa suffered non-life-threatening injuries, including three who fell because of strong winds, while another person was injured in Kagoshima prefecture, authorities said.
More than 12,000 buildings in Okinawa were without power, while nearly 39,000 buildings in Kagoshima prefecture also lost electricity, according to authorities.
Dolphin had maximum sustained winds of 162 kph (101 mph), with gusts reaching 216 kph, as it affected Okinawa and Amami Island in Kagoshima, according to weather authorities.
Domestic airlines ANA and Japan Airlines cancelled flights to and from Okinawa as the storm disrupted transportation.
Authorities in Okinawa and Kagoshima had previously ordered evacuations as Dolphin approached, while Japan’s weather agency warned of violent winds, heavy rain and high waves.
The typhoon was moving toward China, where authorities had issued heightened weather and disaster alerts ahead of an expected landfall on the eastern coast.
The latest reports indicated that Dolphin was continuing to affect parts of southern Japan, with power outages and transportation disruptions still reported.
