Typhoon Phanfone slammed into Japan yesterday, packing gusting winds and huge waves that swept three US military officials out to sea in a stark reminder of the country’s vulnerability to nature.
After a volcano killed dozens of hikers when it erupted without warning on Sept. 27, winds of up to 180kph whipped ashore yesterday, bringing heavy rain and travel chaos throughout a swath of Japan.
The storm whirled over Tokyo at about 11am and then headed northeast, dumping rain further up the coast of Honshu, while its eye moved out over the Pacific Ocean.
Photo: AFP
At least seven people were left dead or missing, including the three US military officials who had been photographing the storm, police and coast guard officials said.
Phanfone grounded more than 600 flights and caused the cancelation of dozens of bullet train services, leaving travelers stranded.
The leading edge of the storm brought a nasty commute to Tokyo’s morning rush hour, with hundreds of thousands of office workers caught in the driving rain.
Localized flooding was reported, while TV footage showed about 15 of the 20m-tall poles holding up the netting at a golf driving range had collapsed, crashing into houses in Chiba, east of Tokyo.
The storm also battered Japan’s auto industries. Toyota Motor temporarily suspended operations at its 12 factories in Aichi, central Japan, due to the impact of the typhoon on its parts supplies, a spokeswoman said, adding that production lines reopened by the evening.
Japan’s weather agency warned that even as the storm passed out to sea, landslides and floods were still a risk in a country where a relatively wet summer brought numerous landslides.
In central Shizuoka Prefecture, more than 50,000 people were ordered to evacuate, while about 1.7 million others were advised to take refuge, authorities said.
The three US officials were engulfed by waves on Okinawa, where they “were taking pictures with high waves whipped up by the typhoon in the background,” a police spokesman said. “One has been found dead, with the two others still missing.”
A 21-year-old surfer went missing in the Pacific off Fujisawa, a Japanese coast guard spokesman said, while a junior-high school boy disappeared after being swamped by waves at Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, a city official said. Rescuers were also looking for two missing people in the mess left by two landslides in Yokohama.
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