Massive Typhoon Threatens Southern Japan with Record Level Winds and Rain

People may think that hurricane season hits the coasts pretty hard, but it hits nowhere harder than island nations all over. Currently Japan is facing a typhoon that has been labeled a "once in a decade" storm that is causing officials to sound the highest level of alarms.

As of July 7^th the storm was making its way towards Japan's southern islands with winds reaching up to 168 mph and bringing waves of up to 46 feet high. One of Japan's Meteorological Agency's officials, Satoshi Ebihara, warned journalists in a news conference "The storm's slow movement could add to the potential damage," and that "leaders held an emergency meeting and urged local governments and residents to take maximum precautions."

The storm, named Neoguri, is threatening two nuclear power plants as it makes its way towards landfall. The two plants are located on Kyushu Island, one of Japan's major Southwestern islands. Both plants were shut down for safety in preparation of the storm. A nearby island, Shikoku, also shut down their plants. Fukushima's plants, the ones that exposed plant safety issues in 2011, are expected to be spared from the typhoon.

On Monday the 7^th the storm was clocked as a category 4 hurricane and was expected to drop to a category 3 by the time it reached Kyushu with winds between 111 and 130 mph. Okinawa, located South of Japan, has a major US military presence there. While the storm is not projected to reach the island, its proximity will still bring hurricane strength wind and rain.

From the military base's Facebook page Brigadier General James Hecker warned readers about the storm's strength. "I can't stress enough how dangerous this typhoon may be when it hits Okinawa. This is not just another typhoon."

The storm's massive size took up almost the entire view from astronauts aboard the International Space Station as they looked over the Pacific Ocean. Neoguri may not be as strong as last year's major storm, Haiyan, but it is still more than capable of causing massive damage.