Typhoon Nangka rips through western Japan
Typhoon Nangka exited to the Sea of Japan on Friday afternoon from Tottori Prefecture after making landfall in Kochi Prefecture the previous night and then battering the western part of Japan with heavy rain and strong wind, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The typhoon, the year's 11th, was downgraded to a tropical depression early Saturday morning. The storm left at least four people dead as a 39-year-old man was found dead in Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture on Friday and the body of an 82-year-old woman was found in a river in Ako, Hyogo Prefecture, the same day. On Thursday two men were found dead in Hyogo Prefecture. Separately, a female student might have been swept away in the city of Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, local police said. A 2-year-old boy was in an unconscious state after being found in a swollen river in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture. A total of 55 people were injured. The typhoon left 30 houses damaged mainly in western Japan and inundated 190 homes. Evacuation orders and recommendations were issued to some 870,000 people in extensive areas in western to eastern Japan. The orders were lifted in many areas as the storm passed. Total rainfall reached 740 millimeters in the village of Kamikitayama in Nara Prefecture, and nearly 700 mm in the town of Odai in Mie Prefecture and in the village of Umaji in Kochi Prefecture, the weather agency said. At Kansai International Airport near Osaka, 51 domestic and international flights were canceled Friday. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines together aborted 36 flights at Itami airport in Osaka, affecting about 1,100 passengers. West Japan Railway Co. said it has canceled a total of 137 limited express train runs and totally or partially suspended local train services on its nine lines, affecting about 550,000 people. Source: Kyodo