Typhoon Nanmadol brought fierce winds and record rainfall to parts of Japan on Monday, as one of the biggest storms to hit the country in years killed at least one person, disrupted transportation and strained some manufacturers to suspend their operations.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delayed his departure for New York, where he is due to address the United Nations General Assembly, until Tuesday to monitor the impact of the storm, media reported.
A man walks on the street during heavy rain and wind caused by Typhoon Nanmadol in Kagoshima on Japan’s southernmost main island of Kyushu on September 18, 2022 (Kyodo)
“We need to stay very alert for heavy rain, gale force winds, high waves and storm surge,” a Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) official told a news conference.
The 14th Japanese typhoon of the season made landfall near the city of Kagoshima on Sunday evening before hitting the western island of Kyushu and roaring over the main island of Honshu.
A river in Kyushu’s Miyazaki prefecture overflowed, flooding fields and roads, footage from state broadcaster NHK showed. Another video showed a house on the edge of a river suspended above a torrent, roofs torn from buildings and billboards toppled.
NHK said a man was killed when his car was submerged by a flooded river and firefighters were trying to determine if a man in his 40s was inside a buried hut by a landslide.
At least 69 people were injured, NHK said.
About 340,000 homes, most in Kyushu, were without power early Monday, the Commerce Ministry said, while Kyushu Railway Co, said it halted operations on Kyushu and Japan Airline and ANA Holdings canceled about 800 flights, said reported public broadcaster NHK.
The storm was centered in Yamaguchi prefecture, at the western end of Honshu, as of 0200 GMT and was tracking northeast at about 15 km/h along the northern coast, the JMA said.
The storm would track the coast north of Honshu until Tuesday before moving over the Pacific, the agency predicted.
Up to 400 mm (15.75 inches) of rain was expected in the Tokai region of central Japan, the country’s industrial heartland, over the next 24 hours, it said.
Toyota Motor was among manufacturers that said they would halt production at some plants due to the storm, but no major damage was reported to the industry.
Intermittent bouts of heavy rain hit Tokyo, but businesses in the capital were largely operating normally.
Most schools were closed on Monday for a public holiday anyway. (Reuters)
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/world/2022/09/501_336298.html
Category: Japan
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