A weakened Tropical Storm Mawar headed toward Japan's southern archipelago of Okinawa on Thursday, leading businesses and the airport to close and fishermen to batten down their boats in preparation.

Many residents in the prefectural capital of Naha on the main Okinawan island, where about 20,000 U.S. forces are based, appeared unworried even as they took precautions.

Mawar, formerly a typhoon but now packing winds of up to 66 miles per hour, was around Miyako, one of Okinawa’s remote islands, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The storm could approach Okinawa’s main island on Friday and bring powerful rainstorms to the region, it said.

TYPHOON MAWAR HEADS TO JAPAN, LASHES EASTERN TAIWAN AND NORTHERN PHILIPPINES ON THE WAY

A 76-year-old fisherman, Tatsunori Yamashiro, said he wasn't too worried by the weakening storm.

"All I can do now is to wait," he said, sitting in his fishing boat, which he'd securely tied to a port facility. He said Mawar could have caused damage if it hit Okinawa when it was a typhoon. "It’s now weakening, and because the water temperature around Okinawa is not very high, it will continue to get smaller.

Mawar largely skirted Taiwan and the Philippines after tearing across Guam last week. It passed by Taiwan on Tuesday with sustained winds of 96 mph and gusts of up to 118 mph, sending high waves crashing on the island's east coast.

In the Philippines, authorities said heavy rains were expected to continue in the country's north through at least Thursday and warned of flooding, possible landslides and gale-force winds before the typhoon exits the country's area of responsibility.

Another fisherman in Okinawa, Ryo Niinuma, 27, said he tied up his boat and cushioned its sides so that it wouldn’t get bumped by boats next to it.

"We are used to typhoons," he said. "This one seems to be a bit early this year, but we’ve had bigger ones in the past."

GUAM ‘VERY BLESSED’ AS TYPHOON MAWAR LEAVES WITH NO REPORTED DEATHS

People on Okinawa had been preparing for the approaching typhoon when a warning siren awoke them Wednesday to alert them to a North Korean rocket launch. Officials urged people to stay indoors or take shelter underground in case of falling debris.

The rocket failed and did not come anywhere near Japan, but residents already anxious about the typhoon said it added to their stress.

Japan had deployed a number of PAC-3 land-to-air interceptors on southern islands ahead of the launch, but some of them were kept on base instead of being set up at intended locations due to safety precautions ahead of the typhoon.

The U.S. military, which has troops stationed at multiple facilities on Okinawa, will take preparatory action as the storm draws closer, depending upon need, said Capt. Brett Dornhege-Lazaroff, spokesman for the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force on Okinawa.

"Our installations are tracking the storm closely," he said.

Mawar lashed Guam last week, becoming the strongest typhoon to hit the U.S. Pacific territory in more than two decades, flipping cars, tearing off roofs and knocking out power.

In the Philippines, more than 8,000 people had been evacuated from flood- and landslide-prone communities to emergency shelters or relatives' houses but many returned home on Wednesday as the weather started to clear. No major damage was reported.

Twitter users scorched National Security Council spokesman John Kirby for his speechless response to a question on President Biden being seen as "corrupt" by a majority of Americans.

While discussing foreign-policy related issues, Kirby appeared to be taken aback after New York Post reporter Steven Nelson remarked that 53% of Americans, including approximately one fourth of Democrats, now believe that Biden was involved in "an illegal influence peddling scheme" with his son Hunter during his tenure as vice president.

"So, what do you say to the majority of Americans who believe that the president is himself corrupt?" Nelson asked.

"Wow," Kirby initially responded while shaking his head. A woman could be heard exclaiming, "Jesus!" in the background, along with some chuckles from other reporters.

WATCH: WH OFFICIAL LEFT SPEECHLESS WHEN ASKED WHETHER BIDEN IS ‘CORRUPT’: ‘NOTHING TO THESE CLAIMS’ 

After a long pause he answered, "The president has spoken to this and there's nothing to these claims. And as for the whistleblower issue that you talked about and in the document — I believe the FBI has spoken to that, and you're going to have to go to them on that."

Kirby’s answer, along with his apparent frustrated demeanor, was attacked on social media for ignoring the question and ongoing investigation into the Biden family.

"Better question: what did the Chinese communist party think they were getting in return for funneling millions of dollars to Hunter Biden?" radio host Buck Sexton asked.

Twitchy's Doug Powers joked, "’There's nothing to this because Biden says so.’ Well, in that case, call off the investigation!"

"The only thing I heard Biden denying was his involvement w/Hunter's Business Deals. And that's been demonstrably proven to be a lie," writer Jeff Carlson tweeted.

"Well if Joe Biden says he’s not corrupt them that settles it. I’m convinced!" former congressional candidate David Giglio agreed, adding facepalm and clown emojis. 

FOCUS GROUP OF BIDEN VOTERS OVERWHELMINGLY DISAPPROVE OF HIM, FEEL ‘DEFEATED,’ ‘ANXIOUS’ HEADING INTO 2024 

Writer Kate Kisset said, "While the press giggles, remember what Kirby said about our disastrous departure from Afghanistan which resulted in the loss of 13 Marines, the maiming of hundreds more and the abandonment of Americans, allies, and Afganis who risked their lives to help us. ‘For all this talk of chaos, I just didn't see it. Not from my perch. At one point during the evacuation, there was an aircraft taking off full of people, Americans and Afghans alike, every 48 minutes. And not one single mission was missed,' he said Apr 7, 2023."

"The Biden administration truly thinks you're stupid," National Mouth editor Tim Young commented after quoting the exchange.

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The question followed the House Oversight Committee's investigation to look into a possible criminal scheme between Biden’s family and foreign nationals to influence policy decisions. In addition, an IRS whistleblower allegedly disclosed efforts to slow-roll the investigation into Hunter Biden’s finances.