One dead after powerful typhoon hits Tokyo
TOKYO (AFP) — A powerful typhoon that battered Tokyo overnight with ferocious winds killed one person, police said yesterday, as halted trains caused commuter chaos and more than 100 flights were cancelled.
Typhoon Faxai, packing record winds of up to 207 kilometers per hour, made landfall in Chiba just east of the capital before dawn, after barrelling through Tokyo Bay.
The transport disruptions unleashed by the storm came less than two weeks before the start of the Rugby World Cup, and delayed the arrival of the Australian team -- a reminder that Japan’s typhoon season could present challenges for organizers.
Police confirmed one person was killed in the storm, a woman in her fifties who was found dead in Tokyo. Security camera footage showed she was pushed across a street and into a wall by high winds, a police spokesman said.
More than 30 people were injured in the storm, the Kyodo news agency said, including a woman who sustained serious injuries after pillars at a golf range were toppled by high winds and hit a house.
Non-mandatory evacuation orders were still in place at 8 a.m. (2300 GMT) for nearly 340,000 people, and authorities said more than 2,000 people had taken refuge in shelters.
The strong winds downed trees and power lines, which left 910,000 people without electricity in the Tokyo area Monday morning, NHK said.