World

Mass evacuations as Typhoon Dolphin approaches Japan

By AAP Newswire

Aug 7, 2026

Hundreds of thousands of people in southwestern Japan have been ordered to evacuate ‌and more than 500 flights cancelled as slow-moving ‌Typhoon Dolphin approached the region to bring violent winds, heavy ‌rain and high waves.

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The Category 1 typhoon had maximum sustained winds of 144km/h with gusts reaching 198km/h and was nearing a chain of islands between the ‌Kyushu region and ‌Okinawa prefecture, ⁠the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said on Friday.

Authorities issued evacuation orders for nearly 260,000 residents in Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures, while Toyota suspended work at nine factories on Friday.

Dolphin was expected to maintain its strength as it approached Okinawa ⁠prefecture, raising the risk ‌of winds that could damage or collapse some structures, authorities warned.

A linear rain ‌band — or a narrow band of intense precipitation and thunderstorms — could also develop, possibly triggering flooding, the weather agency said.

The large storm was also enveloping much of the southernmost main island of Kyushu with strong winds, ‌including Kumamoto prefecture, still reeling from last week's magnitude 7.1 earthquake.

Some 6700 Kumamoto residents remain in evacuation centres after many houses collapsed.

The weather agency has also warned of heatstroke risks with temperatures expected to reach 36C ⁠in some areas.