Tropical Storm Khanun barrels northwards

After recently being hit by devastating floods, China and Japan are both nervously watching the forecast.

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Unprecedented amounts of rain triggered a series of flash flooding and landslides across the Japanese island of Kyushu [AFP]

The formation of Tropical Storm Khanun was not welcomed.

Just days earlier, Kyushu had been hit by the heaviest rain on record. 24 people lost their lives, and the clear-up operation is still underway.

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The forecast track of Tropical Storm Khanun [Al Jazeera]

China too has been suffering from some widespread and destructive flooding. The provinces of Guizhou, Hunan and Jiangxi have been the worst affected, more than 2 million people have been affected by flooding in the last week alone.
If either of these regions were now hit by a tropical storm, the situation would certainly be critical.

In many ways, the track of Tropical Storm Khanun couldn’t be better. It is steering clear of both China and Japan, and instead is barrelling up the East China Sea, towards the Korean Peninsula.

For the past few months, the Korean Peninsula has been in the grip of a drought. Although recently the rain has started to fall, more is still needed across the region.

Khanun is expected to bring 200mm of rain to some parts of the Korean Peninsula. In the short term the storm is expected to cause flooding, but if the storm hit China or Japan, the outcome would undoubtably be worse.

Source: Al Jazeera