Japan evacuates more than 600,000 people as Typhoon Hagibis approaches

Tokyo: Japan has advised more than 600,000 people to evacuate as it prepares to face the Typhoon Hagibis.The approaching typhoon is causing havoc throughout Japan. There are reports of a 50-year-old man dying in a car that was flipped over.

Hagibis has brought heavy rainfall throughout the country ahead of its landfall, including Shizuoka and Mie prefectures, southwest of Tokyo. A record-level downpour of 700 millimetres fell on Hakone Town in Kanagawa Prefecture and close to 30,000 households in the greater Tokyo area are without electricity.

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Meanwhile, hashtag `pray for Japan` is trending on Twitter as the devastating tornado is unfurling itself. Earlier in the day, local weather agency issued a high-level rain warning at 3:30 pm (local time) for Tokyo and six other districts in central and eastern Japan.

Japan`s Meteorological Agency has placed the approaching typhoon in the `very strong` category, which is moving northwards over the Pacific towards Japan`s main island of Honshu.