Typhoon continues to the east

July 10, 2014

Typhoon heads east after hitting Kyushu region

(Mainichi)

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140710p2g00m0dm035000c.html 

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Heavy rain continued to hit wide areas of Japan and affected traffic Thursday due to a typhoon that made landfall on the southernmost main island of Kyushu earlier in the day and headed east, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Since the agency issued its first special alert on Monday warning that the season's eighth typhoon, Neoguri, could be the strongest in decades, three people have died and 50 people sustained injuries, according to a tally by Kyodo News as of 6 p.m. Thursday.

After lashing the islands of Okinawa, the typhoon made landfall near the city of Akune, Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Kyushu, shortly before 7 a.m. It made landfall again in southern Wakayama Prefecture in western Japan at about 6:30 p.m., the agency said.

The typhoon is expected to move east on the Pacific side of the Japanese archipelago and will be downgraded to an extratropical cyclone by Friday afternoon.

The typhoon brought heavy rain to western Japan. In Seiyo, Ehime Prefecture on the smallest main island of Shikoku, a 77-year-old man was confirmed dead on Thursday after being found collapsed in a waterway.

On Wednesday, a 12-year-old boy died after being hit by mudflow in Nagiso, Nagano Prefecture, while an 83-year-old man died in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, after falling into a river.

Heavy rain pounded many areas in central and western Japan, with hourly rainfall reaching 71.0 millimeters in Sukumo, Kochi Prefecture, in the southern Shikoku region -- a record for July, agency officials said.

Hourly rainfall reached 59.5 mm in Minami, Tokushima Prefecture, in the eastern Shikoku region and 53.0 mm in Motosu, Gifu Prefecture, in central Japan.

As of 7 p.m. Thursday, the typhoon was located near the city of Shingu in southern Wakayama Prefecture. It was moving east-northeast at 40 kilometers per hour, with its atmospheric pressure at 988 hectopascals at its center and wind gusts of up to 126 kph.

Due to the typhoon, airlines canceled more than 200 flights linking Kyushu and Shikoku with other parts of Japan.

Japan's two major airlines, Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co., canceled 47 and 31 flights, respectively. Japan Air Commuter Co., which is affiliated with JAL, canceled 86 flights linking remote islands with the country's main islands.

Railway services of bullet trains were also affected, including those operated by Kyushu Railway Co., West Japan Railway Co. and East Japan Railway Co. or JR East.

JR East suspended bullet train services between Fukushima and Yamagata stations in northeastern Japan for Thursday due to the heavy rain from a day before.

July 10, 2014(Mainichi Japan)