Powerful typhoon triggers blackout in Japan

TOKYO: A powerful typhoon hit Japan´s southern Okinawa islands Saturday, cutting power to more than 15,000 homes and grounding hundreds of flights.

Tapah — packing wind gusts of up to 180 kilometres (110 miles) per hour — is now moving north and is expected to progress through the sea separating South Korea and western Japan. The country´s weather bureau issued warnings of heavy rains, floods and high tides, while the Okinawa prefectural government issued an evacuation advisory to some 334,000 people.