Islands in Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa have been hit with strong gusts of wind and torrential rain as a result of Typhoon Talim, Japan's Meteorological Agency (JMA) said Thursday.
The typhoon has left around 20,000 houses, or 80 per cent of households in Miyakojima City, without electricity as of 5:00am local time on Thursday morning, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the weather agency, the typhoon was located 180 km north-northwest of Miyako Island in the prefecture and was moving in a north-northwesterly direction at a speed of 15 km an hour as of 6:00am on Thursday morning.
More than 500 millimetres of rain was logged in Miyakojima city on Miyako Island in the past 24 hours, the JMA said, which is double the usual amount for the time of year.
The agency said it has been the heaviest rainfall the city has suffered in half a century.
The JMA has also urged residents in the affected regions to be highly cautious of strong gusts, potential mudslides and high waves caused by Typhoon Talim.
Residents in the hardest-hit areas have also being warned to stay indoors and not leave their homes.
The JMA has issued advisories of high tides, lightning, and gusts, which could include tornadoes.
Typhoon Talim is expected to take an easterly trajectory and may make landfall on the mainland in both western and eastern Japan from Saturday through the three-day weekend, the JMA said.
Kyushu, the southwestern-most of Japan's main islands, is expected to be among the first regions in the typhoon's path on the mainland and advisories to residents there have been given, local media has reported.