Four dead, one missing in Japan typhoon
Date: 03-Oct-02
Country: JAPAN
Author: Isabel Reynolds
Dozens have also been injured as Typhoon Higos, which means "fig" in the native language of the Pacific island of Guam, lashed the capital with heavy rains and high winds before moving rapidly north.
Two people died in Chiba, near Tokyo, when they were electrocuted by electrical cables severed in the high winds, police said.
A security guard was killed when a plate glass window fell on him in Yokohama, 30 km (19 miles) from Tokyo. The fourth person was drowned while trying to secure a fishing boat against the storm in Miyagi, northern Japan, police spokesmen said. One other person is missing after being swept away by waves on the coast near Yokohama.
A number of domestic flights, mostly to and from northern Japan, were cancelled on Wednesday morning, according to national broadcaster NHK. Some delays were seen on train lines near the capital, due to fallen trees and other damage.
A Bahamas-registered ship with a load of motor vehicles ran aground in Oshima, an island south of Tokyo and leaked some fuel oil, coast guards said.
All 24 crew of the 56,835-tonne "Hual Europe" were safe and the ship was not in danger of sinking. The coast guard was carrying out an inspection of the vessel.
POWER CUTS
Higos, the 21st typhoon of the season, flooded homes and toppled electricity pylons across northern parts of the country. More than 80,000 homes in northern Japan lost electrical power at some point, NHK said.
By 6 a.m. (2100 GMT) Higos had landed on the northernmost island of Hokkaido, moving at a speed of 80 kph and packing winds of more than 100 kph.
High wind warnings have been issued for the area, prompting fears about damage to rice and apple crops just before the harvest.
A two-storey wooden cake shop was also blown down Tuesday night in central Tokyo, which rarely sees powerful typhoons.
In July, the capital braced for a battering from typhoon Chata'an, a major storm that killed at least 76 people in Micronesia and the Philippines before heading to Japan.
Chata'an missed the city, but raked northern Japan, causing widespread flooding and leaving five dead.
