Tokyo: One of the strongest typhoons to hit the Japanese capital in recent years hit just east of Tokyo on Monday, killing one woman, with record-breaking winds and stinging rain that threatened to burst river banks before heading out to sea.
More than 130 flights were canceled and scores of train lines were closed for hours, snarling the morning commute for millions in a greater Tokyo area that has a population of some 36 million. Authorities warned it was dangerous to venture outside.
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Commuters wait outside a station as train operation is suspended due to typhoon in Yokohama
Typhoon Faxai, a Laotian woman’s name, slammed ashore in the city of Chiba, just east of Tokyo, a little before dawn, bringing with it wind gusts of 207 km/h (128 mph) in Chiba, the strongest ever recorded there, national broadcaster NHK said.
A woman in her fifties was confirmed dead after she was found lying on a Tokyo street and taken to hospital. Footage from a nearby security camera showed she had been smashed against a building by strong winds, NHK reported.
Another woman in her 20s was also rescued from her house in Ichihara, east of Tokyo, after it was partly crushed when a metal pole from a golf driving range fell on it. She was seriously injured.
“There was a huge grinding noise, I couldn’t figure out what it was. Then I looked out the window,” a neighbour told NHK.
Some minor landslides occurred and a bridge was washed away, while as many as 930,000 houses lost power at one point, NHK said, including the entire city of Kamogawa.
(Agencies)
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