The strongest storm to hit Japan this year battered the southern islands of Kyushu and Shikoku early yesterday, bringing heavy rain to Tokyo and causing extensive travel disruption.
Typhoon Vongfong has forced the cancelation of more than 500 domestic flights, public broadcaster NHK said, while an airline said at least one overseas flight was canceled.
Many trains in western cities were also suspended, NHK said, adding that more than 820,000 people have been urged to leave their homes. About 4,900 households in Tokyo suburbs were without power, media said.
Rain in Tokyo was expected to intensify overnight.
Vongfong battered the southern island of Okinawa, 600km south of the capital, as well as Kyushu and Shikoku islands, injuring 59 people, the broadcaster said.
On Sunday, the wind weakened significantly from the previous day, when it reached a peak of 234 kph, which had temporarily made Vongfong a super typhoon.
Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, said in a statement it had increased the facility’s water transfer and storage capacity to prevent an overflow of radioactive water being stored at the plant.
A major baseball game in Osaka between the Orix Buffaloes and the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters for the Pacific League playoff was postponed by the storm. It was the first time a Nippon Professional Baseball playoff was canceled because of a typhoon.
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