Tropical Storm Jangmi, the sixth named storm of the season, lashed a broad swath of Honshu with heavy rain and strong winds on Wednesday, triggering flood alerts as it passed over the area.
According to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, at least 23 people were injured as a result of the storm and 57 houses were damaged nationwide.
In Kanagawa Prefecture and Tokyo, the storm wreaked havoc on transportation, flooding a road intersection in Kawasaki’s Saiwai Ward, with floodwaters in some areas reaching a depth of 30 centimeters. The area around Kawasaki Station was also temporarily flooded, according to NHK. Several meters of a section of a national highway in Tokyo’s Ota Ward was also inundated.
Earlier in the day, Level 4 evacuation orders were issued for areas in Tokyo, Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures before being lifted later in the afternoon.
On Wednesday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency and Wakayama Prefecture issued a Level 5 special flood warning — the highest level — after flooding occurred along the Kozagawa River, causing some houses to be inundated. The warning was later downgraded to Level 2, but officials continued to urge residents to remain alert for rising river levels and flooding. A section of National Route 371, which runs along the river, collapsed.
The Koza River is seen Wednesday in a screenshot from a video after the Japan Meteorological Agency and Wakayama Prefecture issued a Level 5 special flood warning — the highest level. The warning was later downgraded to Level 2, but officials continued to urge residents to remain alert for rising river levels and flooding.
| WAKAYAMA PREFECTURE / VIA JIJI
As of 4 p.m., the storm was located about 90 kilometers east-southeast of the city of Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, and was moving east-northeast at 50 kilometers per hour. It had a central pressure of 985 hectopascals with wind speeds of 25 meters per second and was packing maximum sustained winds of 35 meters per second.
In the 24 hours through noon Thursday, up to 120 millimeters of rain is forecast in the Kanto-Koshin and Tohoku regions.
The agency had urged people to remain on strict alert throughout Wednesday for landslides and high waves with swells, while also warning of violent winds, rising river levels and flooding. High waves are expected to remain a concern in eastern Japan and Tohoku through Thursday.
Jangmi also disrupted rail and air travel across Japan on Wednesday, with train cancellations and delays in the Tokyo metropolitan area and airlines scrapping hundreds of flights, including services to and from Haneda Airport. Some postal services in Tokyo and 13 other prefectures were also suspended.
According to Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings, more than 12,000 homes in the Kanto-Koshin region were without power as of Wednesday evening. Additionally, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, 1,800 households in the city of Ome were left without water services, and it may take several days to resolve the issue.
People commute in heavy rain brought by Tropical Storm Jangmi in Kawasaki on Wednesday.
| AFP-JIJI
East Japan Railway Co. suspended several lines from the start of service, with most operations resuming in the afternoon and some scheduled to restart in the evening. Strong winds also caused tree branches to become entangled in overhead wires on some rail lines, including the Hachiko Line between Haijima and Komagawa stations.
Several lines, however, were suspended for the entire day as the storm ripped through the area. Limited express services in the Kanto area were also heavily affected, with a number suspended from the first trains of the day.
Airlines canceled a large number of flights as the typhoon affected operations. According to NHK, major Japanese carriers canceled about 760 domestic flights on Wednesday, along with more than 90 international flights.
Domestic cancellations comprised 292 flights by Japan Airlines (JAL), 232 by All Nippon Airways (ANA), 70 by Skymark, 37 by Solaseed Air, 32 by Peach Aviation, 31 by Jetstar Japan, 28 by Air Do, 22 by StarFlyer, five by Japan Transocean Air, four each by Fuji Dream Airlines and IBEX Airlines, and two by Spring Japan.
ANA also canceled 55 international flights, while JAL canceled 37.