Typhoon Nabi poised to hit Japan's main islands

TOKYO, Monday (Reuters) A powerful typhoon bore down on southwestern Japan threatening the nation's heavily populated main islands with torrential rain and strong winds, the Meteorological Agency said.

Typhoon Nabi had already sparked thunder storms in Tokyo, where more than 110 mm (4.3 inches) of rain fell in an hour in some areas late on Sunday. One man drowned in a flooded street in Saitama, just north of the capital, police said. Another man died after being struck by lightning in Chiba, east of Tokyo.

Thousands of households in the capital lost power in the rains, some highways were closed and trains delayed.Nabi was 140 km east-southeast of the tiny southern island of Amami Oshima at 8 a.m. (2300 GMT Sunday), the agency said. Winds were gusting up to 160 km an hour (100 mph) at the centre of the storm.

The typhoon, whose name means "butterfly" in Korean, was travelling north at a speed of 15 km an hour (10 mph), heading directly for the densely populated southern island of Kyushu.

The relatively low speed at which the storm is moving means it will affect Japan for a relatively long time and may cause extensive damage, an agency official said.