Japan lashed by typhoon

TOKYO: One of the strongest typhoons to hit Japan in recent years struck just east of Tokyo yesterday, killing one woman, damaging buildings and disrupting transport.

More than 160 flights were cancelled and scores of train lines were closed for hours, snarling the morning commute for millions of people.

Typhoon Faxai slammed ashore near the city of Chiba shortly before dawn, bringing with it wind gusts of 207kmh in Chiba, the strongest ever recorded there, national broadcaster NHK said.

A woman in her 50s was found dead in a Tokyo street. Footage from a nearby security camera showed she had been smashed against a building by strong winds.

Another woman in her 20s was seriously injured in Ichihara after her house was partly crushed when a metal pole from a golf driving range fell on it.

Some minor landslips occurred and a bridge was washed away, while as many as 930,000 houses lost power at one point, including the entire city of Kamogawa, NHK said.

But the number of homes without power had dropped to 840,000 by early afternoon, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency said a cooling tower at its research reactor at Oarai, which has not been in operation since 2006, had fallen, but there was no radiation leakage.

The weakening storm had headed out to sea by midmorning but authorities warned heavy rain was likely for some hours.

Temperatures were set to shoot up in the wake of the storm, 36degC forecast in Tokyo, prompting authorities to warn of heatstroke. — Reuters