Typhoon batters Okinawa, barrels toward Japan's heart

Typhoon Neoguri lashed Japan's southern Okinawa islands on Tuesday, forcing over half a million people to seek shelter, as the region's worst storm in years damaged buildings, downed trees and brought air and sea traffic to a halt.

It also prompted US forces based there to cancel all outdoor activities.

The typhoon packed wind gusts of up to 216 km per hour with torrential downpours of rain that forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights. The authorities said at least one person had died and several were injured by the raging storm.

In the capital, Naha, traffic lights went off, and television footage showed trees split by the force of the storm, sign boards flying around and a restaurant destroyed. The shattered building blocked a street.

The coast guard and local police said a 62-year-old man was found dead after he was knocked off his boat in rough waters near Japan's main island. The weather agency earlier warned that waves could reach as high as 14 meters.

Separately, Okinawan police said at least four people were injured, including an 83-year-old woman.

Public broadcaster NHK put the number of injured at 19.

Schools across the sprawling archipelago were also closed, while nearly 70,000 Okinawan households had no power, NHK said.

"We have no water or electricity, but the gas is still on," said Takuro Ogawa, who lives in Chatan, a town in central Okinawa.

Late on Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest typhoon alert for Okinawa's main island, which is home to around 1.2 million people, as well as for the outlying Miyako islands. The alert for the Miyako region was downgraded Tuesday evening.

Authorities had warned there was a risk to life, as well as major property damage, from the typhoon and subsequent flooding and landslides.

Officials called on 590,000 people across Okinawa to take shelter in their homes or evacuate to community centers and town halls.

More than 700 people have taken refuge in shelters, Jiji Press agency reported, as the powerful storm barreled toward the heart of Japan.

Neoguri comes less than a year after Typhoon Haiyan, packing the strongest winds ever recorded on land, killed or left missing more than 7,300 people as it tore across the central Philippines in November.

More than half of the 50,000 US troops in Japan are based in Okinawa, the location of several bases, including Kadena, the biggest US air base in Asia.

An advisory on the base's website said the storm had reached a level at which all outdoor activity is prohibited.

AFP - AP

(China Daily 07/09/2014 page11)