Typhoon Baidolphin Batters Okinawa, Hundreds of Flights Scrapped
AM730 · 2 SOURCESabout 9 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Typhoon “Baidolphin” brought severe weather to Okinawa and the Amami islands, with strong winds, torrential rain and dangerous waves affecting a wide area . The storm’s circulation covered Okinawa’s main island and Kagoshima Prefecture’s Amami islands, while the Japan Meteorological Agency warned of destructive gusts and possible flooding from intense rainbands . Flight disruptions mounted quickly, with 470 cancellations on August 7 and 300 more scheduled for the next day . In addition, around 4,000 households were reported without electricity, mainly on outlying islands .
Key Points
- At 8am on August 7, the typhoon was about 50 kilometres east of Okinoerabu Island in Kagoshima, moving northwest at 20 km/h .
- Maximum sustained winds near the centre reached 144 km/h, while peak gusts hit 198 km/h, a level officials said could collapse houses .
- The weather agency forecast a linear rainband over Okinawa’s main island and the Amami islands, with rainfall possibly reaching 200 millimetres in 24 hours .
- Flight operations were heavily disrupted, with 470 cancellations on August 7 across Okinawa and Kagoshima, followed by another 300 cancellations for August 8 .
- Kagoshima issued evacuation orders in eight municipalities, including Amami City and Amagi Town, while about 4,000 households lost power before dawn .
Why It Matters
The storm shows how quickly a strong typhoon can disrupt transport, electricity supply and daily life across Japan’s southern island chains . With heavy rain, storm surge-like waves and damaging winds arriving together, the risk extends beyond immediate travel disruption to flooding, infrastructure strain and public safety concerns .