Typhoon batters Japan with record rain, killing one - NHK (updated)
19/09/2022 07:16
(Updating to add TV tag)
By Kevin Buckland and Kiyoshi Takenaka
TOKYO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Typhoon Nanmadol brought
ferocious winds and record rainfall to parts of Japan on Monday,
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 U.N. General
Assembly, until Tuesday 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 on Monday, the trade ministry said,
while Kyushu Railway Co 9142.T , said it had halted operations
on Kyushu and Japan Airline Co Ltd 9201.T and ANA Holdings
9202.T cancelled about 800 flights, public broadcaster NHK
reported.
The storm was centred on Yamaguchi prefecture, on the
western tip of Honshu, as of 0200 GMT and was heading northeast
at about 15 kilometres per hour along the north coast, the JMA
said.
The storm would track the coast to the north of Honshu into
Tuesday before moving out over the Pacific, the agency
projected.
Up to 400 mm (15.75 inches) of rain was expected in central
Japan's Tokai region, the nation's industrial heartland, over
the next 24 hours, it said.
Toyota Motor Corp 7203.T was among manufacturers that said
they would idle production at some factories due to the storm,
but there were no reports of major damage to industry.
Intermittent bouts of heavy rain lashed Tokyo but businesses
in the capital were largely operating as normal.
Most schools were closed on Monday anyway for a public
holiday.
(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Kevin Buckland; Additional
reporting by Sam Nussey, Maki Shiraki and Ritsuko Shimizu;
Editing by Robert Birsel)
((kiyoshi.takenaka@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 4563 2788;))