Strong storm hits Japanese area recovering from flooding

A powerful storm slammed into Japan on Sunday, churning across western areas already hard hit by floods and landslides earlier this month and injuring some 20 people.

Typhoon Jongdari, with winds of up to 180 kilometers (110 miles) an hour, made landfall at Ise in Mie prefecture at around 1 am (1600 GMT Saturday), according to the meteorological agency.

More than 170 domestic flights were cancelled for Sunday and train services disrupted. A total of 21 people have been injured in the past days as the storm brought violent winds and torrential rains, the government said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that the storm could continue to bring heavy rain even after the epicenter had passed by.

“Get hold of information on damage, cooperate closely with municipal offices and make utmost efforts to help evacuate local residents,” the central government officials said on Sunday.

The typhoon weakened after making landfall and was downgraded to a tropical storm but many provinces stayed on alert.

“We have been on emergency alert the whole time since the rain disaster” in early July, said Koji Kunitomi, a crisis management official in the western prefecture of Okayama. “Fortunately, so far, we haven’t seen new flooding.”

The storm, after unleashing torrential rain over eastern Japan, moved west and then south on Sunday.

TV footage showed high waves smashing onto rocks and seawalls southwest of Tokyo and trees buffeted by strong winds and heavy rain.