A powerful typhoon approaching southern Japan pounded the region with strong winds and heavy rain Sunday, causing blackouts, paralyzed ground and air transportation and the evacuation of thousands of people.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said Typhoon Nanmadol was near the southern island of Yakushima, packing maximum surface winds of 162 kilometers (101 miles) per hour, as it slowly headed north to the country’s main southern island of Kyushu where it could make a landfall later Sunday.
