Typhoon Sansan, Japan’s strongest of the year, made landfall this morning, battering the country’s largest southern island, Kyushu, with heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 252 kilometers per hour. .

Because of the phenomenon, the authorities declared the maximum alert yesterday, citing the winds, rainfall and waves, warned against “landslides”, “flooding in low-lying areas” and “overflowing rivers”.

Three members of the same family – a couple in their seventies and their son, in his thirties – died when a landslide buried a house in Gamagori, central Aichi Prefecture, Kyodo news agency reported, citing local authorities.

Two other women in their forties were injured, the agency said.

Near the city of Satsumansendai, in Kagoshima Prefecture, the first damage has already been reported.

According to electricity companies, 254,610 households were without power in the morning.

The giant of the global automobile industry Toyota announced yesterday that production has been suspended at all 14 plants it has in Japan from yesterday until tonight.

Japan Airlines canceled 172 domestic and 6 international flights scheduled for yesterday and today, while ANA, another Japanese carrier, canceled 219 domestic and 4 international flights scheduled for yesterday through Friday.

The typhoon is expected to continue moving along western Japan for the rest of the week.

Shinkansen, Japan’s high-speed rail, could be suspended this week across the country, depending on the typhoon’s track, the operating companies also warned.

Hurricanes in the region are now forming closer to shore than before, strengthening much faster and staying over land longer because of climate change, a study released in July suggested.

From August 15 to 17, another typhoon, Abil, caused the cancellation of dozens of train routes and more than 650 domestic and international flights, but caused no injuries or serious property damage as it passed off the Tokyo metropolitan area. , in the Pacific.