Typhoon Hagibis

Oh, dear:

Record-breaking rainfall, strong winds and severe flooding struck areas from central to northern Japan on Saturday as Typhoon Hagibis made landfall on Shizuoka Prefecture’s Izu Peninsula and directly hit Tokyo and its surrounding areas.

At least two people were killed, nine were missing, and 86 others were injured across 27 prefectures.

As of early Sunday morning, the typhoon was traveling toward the Tohoku region, and as many as 340,000 residents in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, were advised to evacuate. According to the Meteorological Agency, Hagibis was predicted to move into the Pacific Ocean off Tohoku by around 9 a.m. Sunday.

Over 6 million people across Japan were urged to evacuate earlier in the day, with train operators suspending most services and airports shutting down in the metropolitan and surrounding areas.

Huge amounts of rainfall pushed up water levels of many rivers in areas including Tokyo, Saitama and Chiba prefectures, and some were overflowing.

More than 100 rivers were at risk of overflowing, including the Arakawa River in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward, the Karasawa River in Saitama Prefecture and Koito River in Chiba Prefecture.

The Tama River running between Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture began to overflow into the Tamagawa area of Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward at around 10:30 p.m. The area is better known as Futako-Tamagawa.

The Chikuma River flooded in the city of Ueda and the city of Nagano, both in Nagano Prefecture, as did the Minami-Asakawa River in Hachioji and the Nariki River in Ome, both in Tokyo.

At the same time, the operators of several dams in mountainous areas said they were considering the emergency step of releasing massive amounts of water as of Saturday night. This would significantly increase flood risks in downstream areas, and local authorities repeatedly urged local residents to check safety information and evacuate if necessary.

Also:

Saskatchewan's premier is sheltering in place in Tokyo as a powerful typhoon batters the Japanese city.

Scott Moe says he and the rest of the delegation in Tokyo are safe and in consistent communication with the Canadian Embassy in case the storm worsens.

Moe is on a trade mission in Asia, and says some of the official delegation travelled to South Korea ahead of schedule in anticipation of the typhoon.

He says their early arrival in Soeul means the government can keep its commitments even if typhoon Hagibis makes air travel impossible.

The storm is forecast to be the most powerful typhoon to hit Japan in six decades.