Typhoon Saudel heads west after pounding Japan’s southwestern remote islands, injuring 2

TOKYO (AP) — A powerful typhoon headed west over the East China Sea on Wednesday after slamming Okinawa and other remote southwestern Japanese islands, causing blackouts, flight cancellations and threatening landslides. Two people were slightly injured.

Typhoon Saudel was about 180 kilometers (112 miles) northwest of Okinoerabu island, packing winds of up to 144 kph (89 mph) as of late morning Wednesday as it headed toward China’s eastern coast, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Saudel left two people with minor injuries, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency and prefectural officials said Wednesday.

A 78-year-old woman suffered a head injury when she was blown by the wind and fell to the ground outside her home in the city of Uruma on the island of Okinawa. In nearby Amamioshima island, a woman in her 70s fell from the stairs during a blackout caused by the typhoon, according to NHK public television.

Some 150 flights to and from Okinawa’s Naha airport have been canceled. The typhoon also caused power outages for more than 30,000 homes in Kagoshima prefecture, which includes the Amami area, the Kyushu Electric Power Co. said.

More than 23 centimeters (9 inches) of rain fell in the Amami region over the past 24 hours, the JMA said, predicting more rain of up to 10 centimeter (3.9 inches) in the area and up to 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) of rainfall on Okinawa through midday Thursday.

The agency issued a landslide warning for the Amami region.