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00:00As ominous clouds rolled in, and palm trees clung to their roots,
00:05Typhoon Shanshan made landfall in Japan.
00:08Torrential rains and tempestuous winds swept across Kyushu,
00:13the southernmost main island, on Thursday morning,
00:17with gusts reaching more than 200km per hour,
00:21upending structures and vehicles and threatening large-scale disaster.
00:26In Fukuoka, umbrellas, raincoats and gumboots were a must
00:31for residents braving the conditions.
00:34And across southern, western and central Japan,
00:37nearly one million people were ordered to evacuate,
00:40as authorities sounded the highest category of warning
00:44for what's been deemed the country's most powerful typhoon of the year.
00:50Unprecedented storm winds, high waves and storm surges are expected,
00:55but the highest level of caution is required.
00:57Shanshan has already left nearly a quarter of a million households without power,
01:02injured dozens and claimed several lives.
01:05Three members of a family died on Wednesday before the typhoon made landfall,
01:10when the slow-moving system brought heavy rains and caused a landslide,
01:14burying a house in the central city of Gamigori.
01:18Two people were rescued, one with serious injuries.
01:22And tens of thousands of passengers have been affected by cancelled flights
01:26and train services, with disruption expected into the weekend.
01:30At midday on Thursday, Shanshan was moving north at about 15km an hour.
01:36Its wind speed had slowed, but it was still expected to bring heavy rains and storms.