Tropical storms batter Japan, killing one and flooding multiple regions
Two tropical storms driven by a stalled rain front soaked Japan, triggering landslides, transport chaos and one death as evacuations topped a million.
Two tropical storms that hit as Japan’s rainy season front stalled over the archipelago killed one man, flooded homes and forced mass evacuations across western Japan. Rail lines, highways and flights were hit as warm, moist air from Typhoons Mekkhala and Higos pushed heavy rain through several prefectures.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said Mekkhala, Typhoon No. 7, was 120 kilometers south-southeast of Miyako Island on Thursday afternoon, with central pressure of 985 hectopascals and maximum wind speeds of 30 meters per second near its center. Higos, Typhoon No. 8, was east of the Philippines and moving west-northwest at 25 kilometers per hour. Moisture from both storms feeding a stalled seasonal rain front could drive extreme rainfall across Tokai, Kinki, Shikoku and Okinawa, with up to 200 millimeters expected by June 27 and another 300 millimeters in Tokai over the next 24 hours, along with 200 millimeters in Kanto-Koshin.
By Friday, more than 100 flights had been canceled, some expressways were shut and dozens of train services were suspended. Toyota briefly halted operations at a factory in southern Kyushu. Evacuation orders or recommendations covered around one million people, and more than 2 million residents across 13 prefectures in western Japan were ordered to leave. Flood alerts were issued in parts of Kyoto, Osaka and elsewhere, and the swollen Kamo River in Kyoto carried muddy water through the city.
In Yamaguchi Prefecture, a landslide in Hirao brought down a house and killed a man in his 70s. Eight people were injured across Nara, Yamaguchi, Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures, and more than 30 homes were flooded in Nara and Hiroshima. Strong gusts added to the damage, with temporary wind speeds reaching 29.3 meters per second in Oshima, Tokyo, and 29.1 meters per second in Katsuura, Chiba Prefecture.
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