A severe tropical storm has made landfall in Japan after hundreds of flights were cancelled and large areas evacuated.

Storm Krosa hit the mainland on Thursday afternoon at the city of Kure near Hiroshima in southern Japan.

More than 400,000 people have advised to evacuate while many trains were halted and highways closed.

Almost 700 flights have been cancelled, affecting travel during the summer holiday season.

Footage showed heavy winds uprooting trees, toppling lorries and spinning pods on a ferris wheel.

High waves smashed into a breakwater, engulfing a lighthouse, while rivers broke their banks and flooded roads.

Krosa is classified as a severe tropical storm, one notch below the typhoon category.

Japan's weather agency said the storm had weakened from the previous days but still warned of torrential rainfall, mudslides and floods in the affected areas of the Pacific coast.

It is expected to move north toward the Sea of Japan.

Even before landfall, heavy rains had left a group of 18 people stranded at the banks of a rising river. They were evacuated to higher ground to be rescued.

Source: BBC

BDST: 2008 HRS, AUG 15, 2019

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