HK travelers safe in storm-hit Okinawa

Some 45 Hong Kong tourists in Okinawa sought help from the Immigration Department as Typhoon Khanun made landfall in the Japanese prefecture.

The department said the tourists were seeking help with sourcing transportation and accommodation. It added that all Hongkongers were staying in safe places and provided with relevant information.

Travel Industry Council chair Gianna Hsu Wong Mei-lun said two tour groups were affected and had to return to Hong Kong yesterday.

Two other Okinawa tour groups involving 50 to 60 travelers were yet to be canceled.

David Wu and his two friends, who traveled to Okinawa on July 24, were forced to leave two days later than planned.

Their original flight home on Wednesday was canceled and they had to purchase new air tickets for HK$7,586 to get back to Hong Kong today. They also had to book an additional two nights at their hotel.

"Hotel prices have skyrocketed since the typhoon hit - we had to pay HK$1,800 each night for a three-person room," Wu said. "The hotel room cost HK$1,100 per night when we first booked it."

The three were unable to leave the hotel on Tuesday and Wednesday when the typhoon was closest to Okinawa.

"Supplies at the nearby supermarket were running low. We eventually managed to get enough to last two days," Wu added.

Naha airport in Okinawa reopened yesterday, but at least 314 flights were canceled. Most cruise services between different islands of Okinawa were suspended.

Hong Kong Airlines canceled four flights to and from Okinawa on Monday and Tuesday. It said it will add one flight to and from Okinawa today.

HK Express canceled three round-trip flights from Monday but will provide two additional flights from Okinawa to Hong Kong today.

The typhoon that damaged homes and knocked out power in Okinawa and other Japanese islands this week was slowly moving west yesterday but is forecast to make a U-turn today and dump even more rain on the archipelago, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

That forecast would spare China, where rain from a typhoon this week caused deadly flooding and damage around the capital Beijing.

Khanun, which means jackfruit in Thai, had sustained surface winds of 162 kilometers per hour with higher gusts yesterday morning. Until 6pm, Khanun had a maximum wind speed of 216 kph.

Up to 20 centimeters of rainfall is expected in the Okinawa region by midday today.

The storm has injured 41 people, three of them seriously. And a 90-year-old man was found under a collapsed garage in Ogimi village. His death is being investigated as possibly caused by high winds.

The storm at one point left nearly 220,000 homes - or about 30 percent - in Okinawa without power, according to the Okinawa Electric Power Co.

And some 7,000 homes on Amami, an island northeast of the Okinawa islands and part of Kagoshima prefecture, were without power, according to the Economy and Industry Ministry.

Most remained without power yesterday. Hospitals that lost power were only receiving emergency cases.

Wind warnings for the main Okinawa Island were lifted yesterday, though moderate winds and rain were affecting the island.

And public transit systems that closed during the storm resumed operations and some flights in and out of the Naha Airport have resumed.

charlie.chun@singtaonewscorp.com