One dead after powerful typhoon Faxai hits Tokyo
TOKYO: A powerful typhoon that battered Tokyo overnight with ferocious winds killed one person, police said Monday (Sep 9), as halted trains caused commuter chaos and more than 100 flights were cancelled.
Typhoon Faxai, packing winds of up to 207km per hour, made landfall in Chiba just east of the capital before dawn, after barrelling through Tokyo Bay.
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READ: Powerful typhoon Faxai in direct hit on Tokyo
Police confirmed one person was killed in the storm, a woman in her 50s who was found dead in Tokyo. Footage from a nearby security camera showed she had been smashed against a building by strong winds, NHK reported.
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 8am (2300 GMT) for nearly 340,000 people, and authorities said more than 2,000 people had taken refuge in shelters.
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Some minor landslides occurred and a bridge was washed away, while as many as 930,000 houses lost power at one point, NHK said, including the entire city of Kamogawa.
"I've never seen a situation like this, the whole city without power," an official told NHK.
Urawa station is packed with commuters as typhoon suspended the train services in Saitama near Tokyo Monday, Sep 9, 2019. (Photo: Kyodo via AP)
Commuters wait outside a station as train operation is suspended due to typhoon in Yokohama Monday, Sep 9, 2019, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
And at least 10 homes were damaged in Shizuoka, with windows shattered and cars flipped on their sides, local media reported.
Elsewhere, scaffolding was torn from buildings and protective sheeting hung to keep construction debris off the streets was crumpled and torn by the storm.
While the damage was relatively light given the wind speeds, it was enough to cause chaos in the capital's notoriously busy morning commute.
The overland East Japan Railway train system was largely halted in the early hours of operation while tracks were checked for fallen trees and other debris from the storm.
"We need to inspect tracks and check if there is any damage," a train company spokesman told AFP earlier.
Collapsed steel advertising boards caused by Typhoon Faxai are seen at Edogawa ward in Tokyo, Japan September 9, 2019. REUTERS/Kiyoshi Takenaka
The storm also caused delays and stoppages on subway lines, leading to massive crowds at some stations in the busy metropolitan area that is home to 36 million people.
Bullet train services that were suspended during the storm were largely resumed, though some were operating on a reduced schedule. Some roads were blocked by downed trees.
A Sony Corp spokesman said operations at its plant in Kisarazu, southeast of Tokyo, were suspended due to power outages. The compan
