The typhoon has arrived in Kyushu at the Category 3 level – considerably stronger that I had anticipated. Hurricane Katrina, which caused so much devastation in 2005 when it hit New Orleans, was also a Category 3 storm at landfall:
“Katrina made its second landfall at 1110 UTC on August 29 as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph (200 km/h) near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
The bulk of the damage in New Orleans was caused by flooding. I doubt we will see anything like that in Kumamoto. Nonetheless, the Category 3 status tells us that his is indeed a strong and potentially dangerous cyclone.