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Japan threatened by most powerful typhoon in a decade

A powerful typhoon swirled near Japan's Pacific coastline yesterday, unleashing gusts and torrential rains that grounded planes, flooded homes and triggered landslides. One person was dead and another one missing.

If Ma-on makes landfall, it would be the record eighth typhoon to reach Japan's shores this year. On Friday, Meteorological Agency officials said the full brunt of the tempest -- which had sustained winds of 162kph -- was likely to be stronger than any other to strike the eastern coast in 10 years.

The agency forecast about 250mm of rainfall through tomorrow along the eastern seaboard of the main island of Honshu. It warned of high tides and landslides due to unstable, rain-soaked soil.

Hardest hit by Ma-on, which means horse saddle in Cantonese, were the central prefectures of Shizuoka and Aichi, where wind-whipped rain fell in blinding sheets. In eastern Chiba, more than 330mm rain had fallen since early Friday.

National Police Agency official Yasushi Hisashima said a 48-year-old man who went missing late Friday was found dead near his car early yesterday on a drenched valley road in Wakayama prefecture.

A 74-year-old man who had been delivering newspapers was missing yesterday, Hisashima said. He may have fallen into a rain-swollen river, media reports said.

Plane, train and ferry services nationwide were disrupted, stranding thousands of travelers.

Public broadcaster NHK said at least 150 domestic and international flights and most ferry services along the east coast had been canceled. In central and eastern Japan, railway operators had suspended bullet and local train services and roads were closed to traffic, NHK said.

Rescuers with boats plucked dozens of residents from waterlogged homes in Shizuoka prefecture, officials said. Authorities had ordered evacuations in Shizuoka, Mie, Wakayama, Nara and Osaka prefectures and about 1,500 people had left their homes for public shelters.

About 100 homes had been damaged by mudslides or floods, police said.

The storm comes a week after Tropical Storm Meari tore through Japan, killing 22 and injuring at least 80 others. Downgraded from a typhoon after hitting the southern island of Okinawa, Meari caused floods, triggered deadly landslides and forced about 10,000 people to evacuate their homes.

This year's typhoons are the most on record since the Meteorological Agency began keeping records in 1951. Japan was hit by six typhoons in 1990, when the previous record was set.
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