[ad_1]
Bad weather continues to hit hard Japan. A powerful typhoon hit the east coast of the country on Saturday night between Nagoya and Osaka, leading the authorities to order evacuations in a country already affected by catastrophic floods in July and crushed by heat. [19659003] Typhoon Jongdari, with winds of up to 180 km / h and hitherto stationed offshore, reached Japanese territory at Ise, Mie Department, at about 1 am Sunday (6 pm Saturday, time French), according to the national television channel NHK.
The typhoon, which had already caused torrential rains over eastern Japan, was heading west while maintaining its power, according to the Japanese Meteorological Agency. Television footage showed high waves already crashing on the rocks on the coast at Shimoda, southwest of Tokyo, and planes struggling to land in the face of violent gusts of wind.
More than 4,000 people live in temporary shelters
Kyodo News Agency reports missing man in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo, after several vehicles, including an ambulance, were stranded on a road by the sea
Jongdari is expected to reach Chugoku, the western part of the country, where unusually heavy rains caused floods and landslides in early July that killed about 220 people. More than 4,000 survivors still live there in temporary shelters and many people in their damaged homes.
Before the typhoon hit, authorities warned the population of the risk of torrential rains, landslides, high winds violent and big waves. They called for preventive evacuations. "We want people, especially in the rain-stricken areas, to pay close attention to the evacuation councils," Minako Sakurai, a meteorological agency official, told reporters.
More than 410 domestic flights suppressed
The authorities of Shobara, Hiroshima prefecture (west), ordered the evacuation of some 36,400 inhabitants as a precaution. "Even though it has not rained here, we are asking people to evacuate before dark," a city official, Masaharu Kataoka, told AFP. The televisions showed employees and locals hastily stacking sandbags to block possible floods. In Kure, also in the prefecture of Hiroshima, about 6,380 inhabitants have been ordered to evacuate, according to Japanese media.
More than 410 domestic flights have been removed so far due to the arrival of the typhoon and the ferry links between Tokyo and neighboring islands have been suspended due to high waves, according to Japanese media reports.
The authorities now very cautious
Floods in Chugoku were the worst disaster caused by bad weather that Japan has known for decades. The authorities are now particularly cautious because many people were then stuck for not following the evacuation orders – which are not binding in Japan – issued too late according to critics.
"We are careful the areas where the river banks are being restored because they will be the first heavy rains since the disaster, "said Okayama Department of Chugoku, Tadahiko Mizushima. "We are afraid that people will not be able to evacuate because of strong winds or floods blocking the roads," Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki worried in front of the press, adding that "people are going to evacuate." advance ". Japan, currently in the typhoon season, is regularly hit by severe storms during the summer and autumn.
Source link
