Tokyo, September 29 (QNA) - Typhoon Trami brought devastating winds and heavy rains to the southern Japanese island of Okinawa on Saturday, causing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and a massive power outage.

The outer bands of Trami arrived in Okinawa in the morning, forcing airlines to cancel nearly 400 flights from or to Naha Airport in Okinawa prefecture, where they are scheduled to conduct a gubernatorial election on Sunday. About 195,000 households lost electricity on Okinawa and other neighbouring small islands, according to Okinawa Electric Power. 

As of noon (0300 GMT), the eye of the storm was about 40 kilometres south-south-east of Kume Island, travelling north at 20 kilometres per hour (km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 162 km/h and gusts of 216 km/h, the Meteorological Agency said.

The season's 24th typhoon "might cause a catastrophe with storm surges, high waves, powerful winds and torrential rains," an agency official told a news conference on Friday in Naha, the island's capital, the local Ryukyu Shimpo newspaper reported.

Rainfall of up to 400 millimetres was forecast for the Amami island region and up to 250 millimetres for Okinawa by noon Sunday, while the storm could generate waves up to 13 metres high around the regions, forecasters said.

The typhoon is projected to hit the island of Kyushu and western Japan on Sunday. (QNA)