Hagabis toll more than 50, many still missing

POWERFUL Typhoon Hagabis devastated parts of eastern Japan as it ploughed across the Tokai, Kanto and Tohoku regions and passed over the Pacific Ocean early on Sunday morning.

The typhoon was the most powerful storm to strike Japan in decades. It brought with it winds of 225km/h.

The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper tally said as of 3pm on Monday, it had claimed the lives of 52 people in 11 prefectures, with 168 people injured and a further 16 people missing.

Powerful gusts and rain caused the Chikuma River in Nagano prefecture and the Abukuma River in Fukushima to burst their banks, flooding many houses in low-lying areas.

The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan has released a map of affected areas, indicating the depth of flooding around rivers. Flooding is believed to have reached a maximum depth of about 4.3m near the Chikuma River and 5.2m near the Abukuma River.

The story of a 64-year-old homeless man who was denied access to a shelter in Tokyo on Saturday morning went viral after he was unable to provide officials with a home address.

In Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, a 77-year-old woman who was being airlifted from a submerged house by a Tokyo Fire Department helicopter on Sunday morning fell about 40m to the ground. The woman was taken to hospital but later died from her injuries.

According to the fire department, its air rescue crew was dispatched at the request of the Fukushima prefectural government. It is believed the crew failed to correctly attach the harness that was used to hoist the woman up to the helicopter.

Large-scale power outages o c c u r r e d f o l l ow i n g t h e typhoon. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc said on Sunday that it expected power to be restored throughout Tokyo, Tochigi, Gunma, Ibaraki, Saitama, Yamanashi and Shizuoka by Monday.

Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures have also suffered severe power outages. Power i s expected to be restored in most areas by Wednesday. However, it is believed that some a re a s i n Ic hi hara , Kamogawa, Kyonan and Futtsu in Chiba prefecture may be without power until around Sunday.

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