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Typhoon Melor strikes Japan, claims two lives and injures dozens
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Big waves caused by Typhoon Melor hit the coast of Shirahama
town, Wakayama prefecture, central Japan, Wednesday, Oct. 7,
2009. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) See more images in our
slideshow below.
The first typhoon to strike Japan in two years hit on Thursday killing two people and injuring dozens. Typhoon Melor closed schools, shut down trains and airports, ripped roofs from some homes and downed power lines however damage was not as severe or extensive as originally expected.
The storm was at one point the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane with winds in excess of 190 mph but as it neared the Japanese main islands it encountered a great deal of wind shear and cooler waters. By the time the storm made landfall it had winds of 100 mph and was unleashing tremendous rainfall on the island nation.
A 54-year-old man was killed when he was struck by a tree while he was delivering newspapers. In Satima prefecture near Tokyo, a 69-year-old man died when a tree fell on him. Local media reports dozens of injuries since Melor made landfall in Japan’s Aichi prefecture Thursday morning.
- Slideshow: Japan takes direct hit from Typhoon Melor
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Power outages were reported in many areas while businesses shuttered for the day. Nippon Oil, Idemitsu Kosan and Japan Oil reported they had shut down oil shipments in affected areas. Toyota reported it stopped production at all 12 of its plants for one day.
Workers repair damaged roofs of houses in Tsuchiura,
Ibaraki Prefecture (state), central Japan, after Typhoon
Melor hit the area Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009. (AP
Photo/Kyodo News, Suo Takekuma) See more images
in our slideshow below.
Airlines cancelled over 400 flights and rerouted others in and out of Tokyo. Subway and rail lines within the Tokyo area were shut down and portions of the bullet train service were suspended.
The United States military, with a large presence in the nation, took action ahead of the storm by putting many naval ships to sea ahead of Typhoon Melor’s arrival. Ships stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base, 35 miles south of Tokyo, began pulling out on Monday.
The USS Shiloh, USS Fitzgerald and USS Lassen departed Monday and the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, USS Cowpens, USS O’Kane and USS Mustin left on Tuesday. At Naval Air Facility Atsugi, many of the planes assigned to the air wing aboard the George Washington flew to the ship rather than ride the storm out on land.
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