Typhoon causes blackouts in Japan\'s Kagoshima

More than 17,000 households in southwestern Japan have been left without electricity since Tuesday morning after Typhoon Danas passed near some islands of the Kagoshima Prefecture, local press reported. The storm passed north of the southern Japanese island of Okinawa late Monday and is heading northeast from the seas off Kyushu at a speed of 35 km per hour, with a wind velocity of up to 82 km per hour around its center, according to the latest release from the Japan Meteorological Agency. According to the country\'s public broadcaster Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), the typhoon cut off power to the residents in at least five villages, on the islands of Yoron, Amami-Oshima, Okinoerabu and Tokunoshima in the prefecture on Tuesday. The report said the storm has also caused disruption to public transportation in and out of Kyushu Island. All morning flights from the airports of Fukuoka and Kagoshima to islands in the region were canceled while ferry services from ports in Kyushu, including \"Jet Ferry\" between Fukuoka and Busan, South Korea, are expected to be canceled or postponed in the afternoon on Tuesday, the report added.