2 dead, 3 missing as Typhoon Talim rips through Japan

TOKYO — A powerful typhoon ripped through the Japanese archipelago yesterday, leaving two people dead and three others missing, officials and news reports said.

Typhoon Talim, a Tagalog word meaning “Cutting Edge”, made landfall on Sunday in Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, packing winds of up to 162kmh, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The typhoon, moving north-east along the country, reached the nation’s northern island of Hokkaido yesterday morning, dumping torrential rain and paralysing domestic transport on its way.

About 110mm of rain in one hour was recorded in Oita prefecture, with some areas receiving more in one day than is typical for an entire month, according to public broadcaster NHK.

A 86-year-old woman was found dead after her house was hit by a landslide in Kagawa, western Japan, while a 60-year-old driver was found dead in his car, which sank under a swollen river in Kochi, also in western Japan, local police officers said.

NHK said three men were missing in western Japan after they went outside to check a ship and rice fields, while 38 people had been injured in storm-related accidents.

At least 116 domestic flights were cancelled yesterday because of strong winds, and some bullet train services were suspended in northern Japan due to the typhoon, NHK said.

Japan Airlines said on its website that many flights to Japan’s Kyushu, Shikoku and central regions had been cancelled because of the typhoon. Bullet trains operators also reported stoppages because of electricity outages and heavy rain.

The authorities have issued warnings of rainstorms, high seas, possible landslides and flooding across the nation, as the typhoon maintained its strength.

The typhoon had battered the southern Okinawan island chain before it hit Kyushu, causing the most rain seen over a 24-hour period in 50 years in the city of Miyako.

According to Okinawa Electric Power, more than 18,000 homes were without electricity in Miyako, a city of around 54,000 people some 1,840km south-west of Tokyo.

Typhoon Talim also forced more than 200,000 people to evacuate in China last week.

Big storms regularly strike Japan, and 22 people were killed when Typhoon Lionrock pounded the country last September.

Last month, Typhoon Noru killed two people and injured 51.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Vietnam from Typhoon Doksuri has risen to at least nine, with four people still missing since it hit last week.

The Vietnam Disaster Management Authority said that the typhoon that battered the central coast on Friday also injured 112 people and destroyed or damaged more than 150,000 houses in six provinces.

Typhoon Doksuri also caused destruction of infrastructure, agriculture and fisheries.

The disaster management authority added that some 31,000 soldiers and police had been mobilised to help residents in three hard-hit provinces.

The South-east Asian country of 93 million is vulnerable to tropical storms with its long coastline along the South China Sea. Flooding and storms kill hundreds of people in the country each year. AGENCIES