Staff Sgt. Coye Jurek, of Gonzales, Texas, left; Staff Sgt. Tracy Beasley, of Philidelphia and Tech. Sgt. Grant Carlson, of Kansas City, Mo., place sandbags Aug. 11, 2023, ahead of Typhoon Lan's expected arrival at Yokota Air Base, Japan. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)

The same day that U.S. bases in South Korea picked up after a tropical storm, bases in Japan on Friday prepared for Typhoon Lan, a weakening system expected to strike Japan on Tuesday.

A cluster of bases, including Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo; Yokosuka Naval Base south of Yokohama; Camp Zama, the headquarters of U.S. Army Japan; and Naval Air Facility Atsugi lie east of the Lan’s projected path.

At Yokota, the headquarters of U.S. Forces Japan, the 374^th Airlift Wing said it was tracking the storm but not increasing its readiness level. The 374^th Civil Engineer Squadron emailed facility managers to prepare for heavy winds and rain.

“The Wing is continuing to monitor Typhoon Lan as it approaches mainland Japan, with the storm likely to have an impact to Yokota Sunday or Monday morning,” base spokesman 1st Lt. Danny Rangel said by email Friday.

“Due to the current projected path of the storm, we are currently not initiating a Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness, but we will continue to assess Typhoon Lan’s potential impact and inform our base community as necessary to ensure safety.”

By Friday afternoon, Lan had strengthened from a tropical storm to a typhoon with sustained winds of 132 mph and gusts of 161 mph at its center. The typhoon was about 650 miles south-southeast of Tokyo and moving at 6 mph, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

The forecast predicts it will reach landfall west of Tokyo early Tuesday. It’s forecast to peak Friday evening then weaken before making landfall.

The shopping street outside the main gate at Osan Air Base, South Korea, resumed its after-storm routine on Aug. 11, 2023. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)

Yokota’s 730th Air Mobility Squadron prepped by sandbagging areas on the flight line prone to flooding, Tech. Sgt. Grant Carson said Friday. The squadron moved many of its vehicles inside.

“Having lived in Florida, where we got a lot of tropical storms, you just never know where the cone will be for max sustained winds, flooding and inundation,” Carson said. “The cone can shift day to day and put you in grave danger or have limited impacts. Plus, Air Mobility Command units can be thrust into the thick of disaster recovery at a moment’s notice and need to be able to respond.”

Yokosuka Naval Base, the base closest to the storm track, expects showers and isolated thunderstorms Sunday through Tuesday with maximum sustained winds of 58 mph and 75-mph gusts around 3 a.m. Tuesday, gradually subsiding as Lan moves inland.

.Farewell, Khanun

In South Korea, U.S. bases went mostly unscathed Thursday as Tropical Storm Khanun, which wracked Okinawa twice in early August, exerted the last of its strength on its way to North Korea.

Two men, both from Daegu, were casualties of the storm, which came ashore Thursday morning on the South Korean coast 50 miles south of the city.

At the Army’s Daegu Garrison the storm caused brief power outages and felled some trees, according to an email Friday from spokesman Philip Molter.

A South Korean man in his 60s is missing after he fell with his electric wheelchair into a river; another man, 67, died of an unspecified cause as a result of the storm, according to a news release from South Korea’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on Friday

Camp Humphreys, about 40 miles south of Seoul, reported no damage with most services available Friday, according to an email from garrison spokeswoman Stacey Yun.