Typhoon Megi kills 12 in Japan, S Korea

Houses are flooded in the small town of Onohara in southwestern Japan on Wednesday after Typhoon Megi lashed the area with heavy rain. PHOTO: REUTERS

The death toll from heavy rain and flooding caused by Typhoon Megi climbed to nine in Japan and three in South Korea yesterday, while 134 Japanese children on a cram-school camp were stranded in a mountain village, police said.

The bodies of two women were found in a swollen river in Kagawa prefecture, some 550km west of Tokyo yesterday, bringing the total number of the storm's victims in Japan since Tuesday to nine.

"We believe it is the body of a 72-year-old woman and her 45-year-old daughter ... who went missing after a flash flood hit the shelter where they were taking refuge," a local police spokesman said.

Three people, aged between 74 and 84, were also found dead in Kagawa on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In the mountain village of Okawa in Kochi prefecture, about 170 people, including 134 schoolchildren aged 11 and 12, remained confined to a lodge where they were attending an examination cram school, cut off since Tuesday as heavy rain washed away all the roads to it.

In neighboring Ehime prefecture, a 78-year-old-man was found dead on Wednesday after being swept into an irrigation ditch, while on Tuesday a 74-year-old man was found dead in an overflowing irrigation channel.

Two more deaths were confirmed late on Wednesday in Ehime.

The heavy rainfall caused by Typhoon Megi was expected to continue through yesterday, the Meteorological Agency said.

The agency has warned of torrential rain, flooding and violent winds for southwestern Japan.

South Korea

Typhoon Megi killed three people on the southwest tip of South Korea and left two missing, emergency officials said yesterday.

The typhoon first hit South Korea on Wednesday, bringing heavy rains and leaving more than 2,400 people homeless, said Park Min-ju, an official at the country's disaster agency. More than 1,200 homes were flooded or destroyed.

One man was killed while working near a dam and a 65-year-old woman was walking on a bridge over a brook when she was swept away by the flood, said Kang Chung, another emergency official. Another 69-year-old man also was killed, but no details were available.

Missing a 74-year-old man apparently swept away while working on a farm in Naju city, about 280km south of Seoul, and another 42-year-old man, Kang said.

All the casualties were in southwestern Cholla province.

The heavy weather also shut down seven airports and caused the cancelation of 41 domestic flights.

Bangladesh

Meanwhile, the UN Development Program is considering building floating homes in Bangladesh following the worst flooding in years to strike this low-lying country, a spokeswoman said yesterday.

Inspired the floating dwellings of Vietnam, the houses would float permanently on a raft made of bamboo, reducing the impact of floods that regularly hit Bangladesh.

The proposal is one of eight by French architects Patrick Coulombel and Christian Coombes, commissioned by the UN body to come up with simple cost-effective solutions to flood-proof homes.

The country was devastated by flooding that also hit India and Nepal last month, washing away homes, destroying crops and livelihoods and killing more than 1,950 people across South Asia, including at least 726 in Bangladesh.

If adopted, the proposals would form part of a post-flood rehabilitation program funded by money raised from a US$210 million appeal launched last week by the UN.

Other suggested by the architects, who are representatives of the organization Emergency Architects, include building homes on earth embankments and the construction of temporary floors above the level of the floodwater.