Typhoon Dujuan batters eastern Japan: two dead as nearly 1.9 million ordered to evacuate
Typhoon Dujuan killed two people in landslides near Tokyo as Japan ordered nearly 1.9 million people to evacuate, cancelled 275 flights and asked the military for help.
Typhoon Dujuan has battered Japan’s Pacific coast, killing two people and triggering evacuation orders for nearly 1.9 million residents across Tokyo and five surrounding prefectures, as the country’s meteorological agency warned of record-breaking rainfall.
Two people died after heavy rain triggered landslides in the prefectures of Chiba and Kanagawa, near Tokyo, local authorities reported, according to Kyodo. The BBC reported Japan’s ministry of internal affairs saying 1,908,645 people across Ibaraki, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka and Saitama were under evacuation orders, though such orders are not mandatory in Japan. Local authorities in Kanagawa asked the military to help with disaster relief after several landslides in the city of Miura.
The storm has paralysed transport and events: 275 flights were cancelled on Monday — Japan Airlines grounded 135 and All Nippon Airways 140 — rail lines around Tokyo were suspended, the final day of the Tokyo Game Show was scrapped, and Asian Games organisers in Aichi postponed the equestrian eventing competition.
The Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest-level landslide emergency warning for Oshima in the Izu Islands, and forecast total rainfall through Tuesday could exceed an entire average month of September. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delayed her departure for the UN General Assembly in New York by four hours to monitor the situation.
Sources
- Le Temps — More than one million residents told to evacuate in Japan as Typhoon Dujuan strikes
- AnewZ — Landslide warnings for Japan as Typhoon Dujuan approaches
- News.az (live blog, citing BBC) — Japan warns of floods and landslides as Typhoon Dujuan nears eastern coast
More on this topic: all World stories
