Tropical Storm Mekkhala Forces Mass Evacuations in Japan as Taiwan Battles Floods

Overview

• The storm, which moved past Taiwan on Friday, has weakened from a typhoon to a tropical storm and is now approaching the Ryukyu Islands and western Japan.
• Japanese authorities issued large evacuation orders reported between about 1.0 million and 2.2 million people and raised high-level flood and landslide warnings across southern and western prefectures.
• Transport systems have been hit hard with more than 200 flights canceled, dozens of rail services suspended and multiple highways closed as officials pause movement to protect residents.
• Taiwan saw heavy southern flooding in Kaohsiung, Tainan and Pingtung, disruption of the north–south rail link and targeted evacuations of about 200 people below a rapidly forming barrier lake in Hualien.
• Major companies took precautions with Toyota pausing Kyushu factory operations and TSMC reporting preventive measures while keeping plants running, a sign of possible short-term supply and production impacts if storms worsen.