Typhoon No. 9 left two people dead, at least one person missing and more than 70 injured after hitting Tokyo early Friday and sweeping northward through the Kanto and Tohoku regions.
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| Rescue workers wade through the swollen Tama River searching shacks for homeless people after Typhoon No. 9 blew through Tokyo early Friday, causing extensive floods. AP PHOTO |
Although the typhoon, named Fitow, lost some of its force after engulfing Tokyo, the Meteorological Agency warned the public to be on guard for strong winds and heavy rain along its path before its expected landing in Hokkaido on Saturday morning.
Fitow also disrupted mass transportation in the capital and cut power to thousands in the surrounding areas, which were hit by flooding and strong winds.
In Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, Tsuneo Yanagisawa, 76, died after being hit by a tree around 11 p.m. Thursday while clearing other trees felled by the typhoon, police said.
In Ono, Fukui Prefecture, a construction worker died and another was injured after being caught by a landslide at a dam construction site, firefighters said.
Many rivers in Tokyo and its surrounding vicinities swelled to near flood levels.
On the Tama River on the Tokyo-Kanagawa border, 29 people, mainly homeless who live along the banks, were rescued Friday after being stranded by the rising waters.
However, a 52-year-old company worker was reported missing in Kawasaki after leaving home Thursday night, police said.
He reportedly told his wife he was going to take a look at the swollen river, and police suspect he fell in and got washed away.
There also were unconfirmed reports that three people were swept away by the Tama River.
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| A bridge over the Sakawa River in Matsuda, Kanagawa Prefecture, is shown after collapsing Friday morning after its base was weakened by flood waters. KYODO PHOTO |
Authorities temporarily urged some 20,000 households in Kanagawa Prefecture to evacuate due to flooding fears.
Similar evacuation advisories were issued Friday in areas including Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, and Gunma and Yamagata prefectures.
In Tokyo Bay off Yokohama, two cargo ships collided after dragging their anchors around 2 a.m. Friday, the Japan Coast Guard said. But none of 36 crew members on the 15,888-ton, Bahamas-registered African Oryx or the 1,995-ton, China-registered Tian Dao was hurt.
At 8 p.m. Friday, the typhoon, about 90 km southwest of Hakodate, Hokkaido, was moving north at 35 kph, whipping up winds up to 126 kph near its center with an atmospheric pressure of 990 hectopascals, according to the agency.
More than 100,000 households in eight prefectures have suffered blackouts since Thursday morning, with nearly 30,000 lacking power Friday morning, Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. said.
At least 76 people were injured in the regions hit by the typhoon, according to a Kyodo survey.
East Japan Railway Co. and other railways suspended many morning commuter runs, including express and subway trains in the metropolitan area, delaying some 1.2 million people.
Some bullet trains on the Tokaido, Nagano, Tohoku-Akita and Yamagata Shinkansen lines were also suspended.
But Joetsu Shinkansen and Narita Express trains between the metropolitan area and Narita airport in Chiba Prefecture were running on schedule, JR East said.
Eight international flights and one domestic flight were canceled Friday morning due to strong winds, according to Narita International Airport Corp. officials.
Elsewhere, more than 240 domestic flights, mainly those arriving at and leaving Tokyo's Haneda airport and Miyagi Prefecture's Sendai airport, were scrubbed Friday.
Winds of 160.9 kph were clocked Friday at Cape Irozaki in Shizuoka Prefecture, while the wind speed reached 137.9 kph in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, the agency said.
In the 24-hour period to Saturday evening, up to 200 mm of rain has been forecast along the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region and Hokkaido, and up to 150 mm in areas on the Sea of Japan and Okhotsk sides of Hokkaido, the agency said.
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