A satellite view shows Typhoon Saudel approaching the Ryukyu Islands, Japan in this screengrab from a timelapse video taken between August 24 and August 25, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
A powerful typhoon headed west over the East China Sea on Wednesday (August 26, 2026) after slamming Okinawa and other remote southwestern Japanese islands, causing blackouts, flight cancellations and threatening landslips. Two people were slightly injured.
Typhoon Saudel was about 180 kilometres northwest of Okinoerabu Island, packing winds of up to 144 kph as of late Wednesday (August 25) morning as it headed toward China’s eastern coast, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Saudel left two people with minor injuries, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency and prefectural officials said Wednesday.
A 78-year-old woman suffered a head injury when she was blown by the wind and fell to the ground outside her home in the city of Uruma on the island of Okinawa. In nearby Amamioshima island, a woman in her 70s fell from the stairs during a blackout caused by the typhoon, according to NHK public television.
Some 150 flights to and from Okinawa’s Naha airport have been cancelled. The typhoon also caused power outages for more than 30,000 homes in Kagoshima prefecture, which includes the Amami area, the Kyushu Electric Power Co. said.
More than 9 inches of rain fell in the Amami region over the past 24 hours, the JMA said, predicting more rain of up to 3.9 inches in the area and up to 4.7 inches of rainfall on Okinawa through midday Thursday.
The agency issued a landslide warning for the Amami region.
Published – August 26, 2026 11:30 am IST
