Force of nature: Raging waters rushing along the Sendai River in Isa, Kagoshima prefecture. — AFP
TOKYO: Typhoon Nanmadol brought ferocious winds and record rainfall to parts of Japan as one of the biggest storms to hit the country in years killed at least one person, disrupted transport and forced some manufacturers to suspend operations.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delayed his departure to New York, where he is due to deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly, until today to monitor the impact of the storm, media reported.
“We need to remain highly vigilant for heavy rains, gales, high waves and storm surges,” a Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) official told a news conference.
Japan’s 14th typhoon of the season made landfall near Kagoshima city late on Sunday before battering the western island of Kyushu and roaring into the main island of Honshu.
A river in Kyushu’s Miyazaki prefecture overflowed, flooding fields and roads, footage from state broadcaster NHK showed.
Other video showed a riverside house hanging over a torrent, roofs ripped off buildings and billboards toppled.
NHK said one man was killed when his car was submerged by a flooded river and firefighters were trying to determine if a man in his 40s was inside a hut that was buried by a landslide. At least 69 people were injured, NHK said.
About 340,000 households, most of them in Kyushu, were without electricity early yesterday, the trade ministry said, while Kyushu Railway Co said it had halted operations on Kyushu and Japan Airline Co Ltd and ANA Holdings cancelled about 800 flights, reported NHK.
The storm was centred on Yamaguchi prefecture, on the western tip of Honshu, and was heading northeast at about 15kph along the north coast, the JMA said.
The storm would track the coast to the north of Honshu into today before moving out over the Pacific, the agency projected. — Reuters
