Tokyo residents were warned of violent winds and flooding as Tropical storm Vongfong headed northeast toward Japan’s main island of Honshu, injuring dozens and causing power outages.
The storm packed winds gusting up to 160 kilometers per hour (99 miles per hour) as it tracked the Pacific coast of the island of Shikoku, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Vongfong is expected to weaken as it moves inland through central Honshu, passing northwest of the capital at about 3 a.m., according to the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
The meteorological agency issued warnings of strong winds, high waves and flooding in the Tokyo area. About 4,900 households were without power in the greater metropolitan region, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co. Fifty-seven people were injured, and a Chinese national was missing after being swept out to sea in Shizuoka prefecture, broadcaster NHK said.
Tokyo Metro Co., the largest subway-train operator in the capital, advised there could be service delays or cancellations due to strong winds and swollen rivers.
The storm also prompted Japan Airlines Co. to cancel 95 flights today, affecting about 8,600 passengers, and ANA Holdings Inc. to scrap 156 flights affecting about 13,100 people, the nation’s two largest carriers said in separate statements. JAL cut another six flights tomorrow, affecting about 510 people.
West Japan Railway Co. said it would halt all train operations in the Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe areas from about 4 p.m. today.
Storm’s Landfall
Vongfong made landfall in Kagoshima prefecture on the island of Kyushu at 8:30 a.m. as a tropical storm, weakening from a typhoon after sweeping across Okinawa, where it injured 26 people, according to the local government. Almost 210,000 people in about 90,000 homes in Okinawa were advised to evacuate, it said.
Japan averaged more than 11 typhoons a year, most occurring between July and October, over the 30-year period ended in 2010, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Vongfong is the 19th typhoon of the 2014 season.
Three airmen from a U.S. base in Okinawa were killed last week after being swept out to sea during Typhoon Phanfone.