Typhoon Nangka Heads Toward Japan

 

Typhoon Nangka remains on a collision course with Japan for later this week, posing significant dangers to lives and property.

Nangka is a powerful typhoon and is expected to continue to strengthen over the warm waters of the open Pacific Ocean through midweek.

If computer models hold true then Nangka will make landfall at Hiroshima at about 7 AM on Saturday, and directly strike Osaka and Kyoto at 9 AM.   Nangka's size means that the major urban areas of Nagoya and Kobe would also be affected by heavy rains causing flooding and high winds.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) hopes that the unusually cool waters on the Pacific coast this year would help slow the storm before making landfall.

10 Dead, 86 Injured From Typhoon Halong

Vehicles in Shikoku

Ten people died and dozens were injured when Typhoon Halong moved through the Japanese archipelago over the weekend, reports said Monday, with heavy rain still lashing the country’s north.

The storm moved out over the Sea of Japan Monday morning, after making landfall on Honshu early Sunday morning.

The outer bands of the storm were continuing to batter northern Japan with heavy rain as officials warned of landslides, floods and possible tornadoes in the area.

The agency downgraded the typhoon to a tropical storm at 9 a.m. Monday as it headed toward the far eastern coast of Russia.

The storm, as well as heavy rain last week, killed two people and injured 86 across the country, public broadcaster NHK reported. But the Nikkei newspaper said as many as 10 deaths were linked to the storm.

Among the victims, the body of an Iranian man was found in Ibaraki, northeast of Tokyo, along with two Japanese women in Sakai and Takamatsu, in the country’s west, the Nikkei said.

The National Police Agency declined to confirm the number of deaths from the storm, saying it had yet to compile a nationwide total.

The coast guard on Monday resumed searching for a man who went missing apparently while surfing off Wakayama in western Japan during the storm.

“Police and the coast guard dispatched one rescue boat and two helicopters but we have not found any sign of him,” a police spokesman said.

The weather agency had issued its highest warning on Saturday—meaning a threat to life and the risk of massive damage—for Mie Prefecture, some 300 kilometers west of Tokyo. 

The warning, which was lifted Sunday afternoon, said there could be “unprecedented” torrential rain that might trigger massive landslides and floods.

Local authorities, mainly in western Japan, issued evacuation advisories to more than 1.6 million people in total, NHK said.

Airline services largely returned to normal with just a handful of flights cancelled on Monday after more than 700 flights were called off during the weekend, which came just as Japan began its annual “Obon” summer holiday. 

NHK, Nikkei

Typhoon Halong Now Threatens Russia

Shikoku Storm Surge

Typhoon Halong just will not stop and after leaving Japan into the Sea of Japan has grown in strength again.  

Typhoon Halong, a powerful storm that has already wreaked havoc in Japan, is expected to make landfall in Russia's Far East by Monday evening, Primorye region officials warned. 

Flooding, power outages and other material damage can be expected as a result of the brutal storm, the Emergency Situations Ministry's regional branch said in a warning issued Saturday.

According to the warning, up to 120 millimeters of rainfall could inundate the region in less than 12 hours. The water levels of the region's rivers are also expected to rise by at least half a meter.

The ministry encouraged Primorye residents to forego outdoor pursuits such as fishing and hunting until the storm passes. 

Authorities added that Vladivostok, a city of 600,000 that serves as the administrative center of the Primorye region, would not be spared the storm's impact.

Typhoon Halong made landfall in Japan on Saturday near the southwestern city of Aki. As of Sunday afternoon, the storm had killed two people and injured 43 others, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.  One man was swept away by a river in Mie Prefecture and another man in Hyogo Prefecture drowned while surfing in the storm surge at a local beach.

More than a million residents in Japan had reportedly been evacuated from their homes to escape Halong's wrath.  They returned to their homes on Sunday evening.

NHK, Jiji, Kyodo

Halong Claims One Life

Eye of Halong Over Sea of Japan

Japan's national broadcaster NHK is reporting one man was washed away in an overflowing river in Gifu Prefecture and later died in hospital, while more than 30 others were wounded. 

A surfer has also been reported missing off the coast of Wakayama Prefecture.

Japanese authorities have now ordered 1.6 million people out of the path of the powerful storm which has lashed affected areas with strong winds and torrential rain.

More than 200 fights have been cancelled today and some bullet trains suspended service, leaving many passengers stranded, including holidaymakers as Japan begins its annual "Obon" summer holiday.

Typhoon Halong has moved back to sea to the Sea of Japan after moving over Japan's main island, Honshu.

Forecasters have predicted heavy winds and around 40cm of rain to be dumped on eastern japan, including the Tokyo metropolitan area. 

Japan's Meteorological Agency said Typhoon Halong made landfall near Aki, Koshi Prefecture on Shikoku Island around 6am local time on Sunday. 

On Saturday, Typhoon Halong was packing winds of up to 198 kilometres per hour, the outer bands of the storm have already brought bad weather to large areas of the Japanese archipelago. 

Local television footage has shown high waves triggered by the typhoon splashing over breakwaters.

Storm weather and torrential rains earlier this week has left one dead and four injured, NHK says.

Halong comes a month after Typhoon Neoguri killed several people and left a trail of destruction in southern Japan.

Last weekend, a man drowned in a raging river while more than half a million people were advised to evacuate as heavy rain from Typhoon Nakri lashed the country.

NHK

Typhoon Halong Moves Closer To Shikoku

Typhoon Halong lashed large areas of southwest Japan on Saturday, grounding some 460 flights and stranding thousands of Obon holidaymakers.

Typhoon Halong, packing winds of up to 198 kilometres (123 miles) per hour, will make landfall in southwest Japan late today or early tomorrow, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The outer bands of the storm have already brought heavy rain and strong winds to large areas of the Japanese archipelago, as television footage showed high waves triggered by the typhoon splashing over breakwaters.

At least 460 flights were cancelled on Saturday across Japan due to the storm, which came as Japan had just begun its annual "Obon" summer holiday, NHK said.

Over the next 24 hours, the storm is expected to dump 70 centimetres (28 inches) of rain on the southwest island of Shikoku, which had already been flooded by by downpours from another typhoon last weekend, the national weather agency said.

The agency warned of major landslides and floods mainly in western Japan, while local authorities in Tokushima in Shikoku issued an evacuation advisory to some 44,100 residents, officials said.

The typhoon, which was about 100 kilometres off Shikoku's southern tip at  5:40 PM, Japan time, and was moving northeast at 15 kilometres per hour.

NHK, JMA