Typhoon Lan rips across western Japan, causing travel chaos

Typhoon Lan ripped across western Japan after making landfall on the Kii Peninsula on Tuesday, leaving at least 23 people injured as heavy rainfall disrupted air and train services at the height of the summer holiday season. After making landfall near Cape Shionomisaki in Wakayama Prefecture, just before 5 a.m., the typhoon traversed northward across the country's main island of Honshu, bringing localized torrential rain from Tottori to Okayama prefectures, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The agency in the evening issued a heavy rain warning for Tottori Prefecture, with the local government in Tottori city also issuing its highest level of alert for its some 180,000 residents. Typhoon Lan is expected to travel northward over the Sea of Japan through Thursday and approach Hokkaido in northern Japan, the agency said, while warning of heavy rainfall over a wide area from western to northern Japan and possible flooding and landslides. In the city of Wakayama, a man in his 60s was found unconscious and remains in critical condition after being crushed by the outer wall of a building. Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways canceled Tuesday over 560 flights mostly departing and arriving in western Japan, affecting more than 50,000 passengers. Around 650 people were forced to stay overnight at Kansai airport, located on an artificial island in Osaka Bay, after rail and road access was cut off by the typhoon. Many people had to sleep at the airport, and the facility operator handed out sleeping bags and water to those stranded there.<br/>