Typhoon Neoguri whips Okinawa with heavy wind and rain
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The wind is so loud, it's hard to hear people in the same room, a CNN iReporter says
At least 106,100 electric customers lose power on Okinawa
Airport, schools and businesses are closed
Concerns remain about the damage the storm could do to rain-soaked Kyushu
Is Typhoon Neoguri affecting you? Share your photos, videos and stories from the storm with CNN iReport if you can do so safely.
Hong Kong (CNN) -- Denise Fettig-Loftesnes lives just 50 feet from the East China Sea on the Japanese island of Okinawa -- prime territory to witness the swirling winds of Typhoon Neoguri as they lashed the island Tuesday.
"The wind sounds like a freight train is coming towards you," the CNN iReporter said. "It is hard to sometimes hear people in the same room with you because the wind is so loud."
Her building -- she lives on the sixth floor -- is swaying with the wind, so she's not going outside to check for damage.
"I did notice that my car has moved ahead about one foot and a little to the side," she said.
The storm had lost strength early Tuesday, going from the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane to a Category 3, said CNN International meteorologist Tom Sater.
But it still had knocked out power to at least 106,100 electric customers, according to Okinawa Electric Power Company. About 600,000 households were under evacuation advisories, but fewer than 1,000 had left, authorities said.
Officials attributed 10 injuries to the storm, only one of them serious.
Although the storm is expected to only sideswipe Okinawa, passing about 130 kilometers (80 miles) to the west, the island's main airport, schools and many businesses were closed.
Authorities at Kadena Air Base, the largest U.S. military installation in the Asia-Pacific region, told the thousands of service members and their families at the facility that all outside activity was forbidden Tuesday morning.
Okinawa, the site of multiple U.S. military facilities, regularly finds itself in the path of big typhoons. Buildings on the island are designed to withstand the powerful winds that come roaring in off the ocean.
Each summer and autumn, heavy storms roll in from the Western Pacific, often causing damage in East Asian countries such as the Philippines, China and Japan.
Fears for Kyushu
The storm weakened slightly overnight, with maximum sustained winds of 148 kph (92 mph) and gusts of up to 212 kph (132 mph), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
And while the storm is expected to continue to weaken, authorities are concerned about the potential impact of rain when it reaches Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's main islands, sometime Thursday morning (Wednesday night ET).
"This is not about wind, it's all about rainfall," Sater said, noting that parts of Kyushu have already experienced heavy rains in recent days. The rivers are swollen and the ground is saturated, he said.
Authorities have already relocated about 84,000 people from areas of Kyushu vulnerable to flooding.
Seen from space
Astronaut Reid Wiseman on the International Space Station tweeted a photo over the weekend of the typhoon viewed from above, showing vast cloud bands spiraling out from its center.
"#Typhoon Neoguri nearing Japan. Takes up our entire view. Wow," he wrote.
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CNN's Will Ripley contributed to this report.
By Michael Pearson and Jethro Mullen, CNN
July 8, 2014 -- Updated 1835 GMT (0235 HKT)
台風８号北上 土砂災害など警戒継続を7月9日 4時12分  大型で強い台風８号は、鹿児島県奄美地方の西の海上を北上しています。
沖縄本島地方は台風の暴風域から抜け、気象庁は各地に出していた特別警報を解除しましたが、土砂災害などに警戒を続けるよう呼びかけています。
気象庁の発表によりますと、大型で強い台風８号は、午前４時には奄美地方の西の東シナ海を１時間に２０キロの速さで北へ進んでいるとみられます。
中心の気圧は９６０ヘクトパスカル、中心付近の最大風速は３５メートル、最大瞬間風速は５０メートルで、中心の南東側３１０キロ以内と北西側１７０キロ以内では風速２５メートル以上の暴風が吹いています。
沖縄本島地方は台風の暴風域から抜け、現在、暴風域に入っている地域はありません。
台風が近づいている奄美地方では風が強まり、与論島では午前０時すぎに３１．４メートル、奄美市笠利では午前２時すぎに２６．７メートルの最大瞬間風速を観測しました。
気象庁は、午前３時前に沖縄本島地方の各地に出していた暴風の特別警報を解除し、波浪と大雨の特別警報をそれぞれ警報に切り替えました。
ただ、沖縄本島地方では台風の外側の発達した雨雲が流れ込んでいるため、断続的に激しい雨が降り、土砂災害の危険性が非常に高くなっている地域があります。
午前３時半までの１時間には、読谷村で３３．５ミリの雨を観測しました。
沖縄本島地方ではこのあと数時間は１時間に５０ミリ以上の非常に激しい雨が降るおそれがあります。
また、沖縄本島地方ではこのあとしばらくの間、最大風速２５メートル、最大瞬間風速で３５メートルの暴風が吹くおそれがあり、沿岸は波の高さが１０メートルと猛烈なしけが続く見込みです。
気象庁は、暴風や高波、土砂災害、低い土地の浸水、洪水などに引き続き警戒するよう呼びかけています。
台風の接近に伴って９日は九州や奄美地方で風が強まる見込みで、最大風速は２４メートルから２５メートル、最大瞬間風速は３５メートルと予想され、奄美地方と九州南部の沿岸は猛烈なしけとなる見込みです。
９日は台風の周辺をまわる暖かく湿った空気が流れ込むため西日本から東北の広い範囲で大気の状態が不安定になり、局地的に非常に激しい雨が降るおそれがあります。
９日の夜遅くまでに降る雨の量はいずれも多いところで、九州南部で２５０ミリ、九州北部で２００ミリ、奄美地方と四国、北陸、それに東北で１５０ミリと予想されています。
九州と四国では１０日にかけて雨が降り続き、総雨量が５００ミリから７００ミリの大雨となるおそれがあります。
気象庁は、台風から離れた地域でも雨の降り方に注意し、低い土地の浸水や土砂災害、川の増水、落雷、突風などに十分注意するよう呼びかけています。
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