A powerful typhoon lashed southern Japan yesterday, killing one person, injuring more than 40 others, and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes as gale-driven waves hurtled against coastline defenses and storm surges flooded seaside towns. Another 16 people were reported missing.
The government dispatched 70 Self-Defense Force soldiers to storm-hit areas to fortify defenses, cope with flooding and help evacuate the displaced, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said.
The typhoon grounded hundreds of flights, blocked trains and ferry services and closed down highways, stranding tens of thou-sands of travelers.
PHOTO: EPA
Typhoon Nabi was packing winds of up to 126kph as it made landfall and traveled up the southernmost main island of Kyushu, Japan's Meteorological Agency said. Heavy rain and wind also pounded the neighboring island of Shikoku.
"The wind and rain was so strong earlier this morning, I could hardly walk -- I couldn't leave the building," said Mitoshi Shiroi from his flooded grocery store in Tarumizu, Kyushu.
"The water just keeps on coming in from under the door. And my products will be ruined without electricity," he said.
Power outages affected over 270,000 households in Kyushu, Kyushu Electric Power Co spokesman Tetsuo Yano said.
The typhoon also forced Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to cut short a two-day campaign trip to western Japan ahead of Sunday's national elections.
He was to return to Tokyo last night to avoid the storm, an official from the Liberal Democratic Party said on condition of anonymity, citing party policy.
Police in several prefectures on Kyushu and Shikoku islands confirmed one death and 25 injuries. Another 16 people were missing and over 60,000 were advised to evacuate their homes. Kyodo News Agency reported 41 injuries.
A man in his 70s was found dead after his house was destroyed in a landslide, while nine other people were missing in two other landslides in Miyazaki prefecture, Kyushu island, local police official Takayoshi Tanaka said.
Rescue operations were being hindered by heavy rain and wind, Tanaka said.
An 85-year-old man was also missing in Kagoshima after a mudslide destroyed his home, while a 46-year-old woman and her 10-year-old son were injured when a tree crashed through a window of their home, a local official said.
Japan Airlines and its affiliates canceled 307 flights yesterday, including 10 on international routes, while All Nippon Airlines grounded 374 domestic flights. More than 60,000 people were affected by the cancellations, according to the two companies.
Nabi was expected to move northeast and become the first typhoon to hit South Korea this year.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
MILITARY’S MAN: Myint Swe was diagnosed with neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy disease, and had authorized another to perform his duties Myint Swe, who became Myanmar’s acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago, died yesterday, the military said. He was 74. He died at a military hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, in the morning, Myanmar’s military information office said in a statement. Myint Swe’s death came more than a year after he stopped carrying out his presidential duties after he was publicly reported to be ailing. His funeral is to be held at the state level, but the date had not been disclosed, a separate statement from the
RSS