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Mammoth typhoon menaces Japan

Posted at 12:37 PM, Oct 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-22 12:37:49-04

A mammoth typhoon is closing in on Japan, hurling dangerous winds and threatening to cause major flooding and mudslides.

Typhoon Lan is expected to make landfall overnight Sunday into Monday along Japan’s southern coast near Minamiizu, CNN meteorologist Haley Brink said.

As of Sunday evening, Lan was whipping winds of 215 kilometers per hour (134 mph). Although the typhoon is weakening, Tokyo is expected to get hit with possibly damaging winds and heavy rains, Brink said.

The storm has already caused massive waves in South Korea.

Typhoon Lan is so enormous that its cloud field is larger than Japan, Brink said.

On Sunday, Japanese voters participated in a snap general election that was expected to make Shinzo Abe the longest-serving leader in the country’s post-war history.

The turnout Sunday was stymied by the typhoon, but a record number of Japanese citizens voted earlier ahead of the storm.