Typhoon Phanfone Slams Japan, Typhoon Vongfong Gathers StrengthTyphoon Phanfone Slams Japan, Typhoon Vongfong Gathers Strength
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Typhoon Phanfone Slams Japan, Typhoon Vongfong Gathers Strength


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Pedestrians battled wind and rain in Tokyo on Monday.Image: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images
By The Associated Press2014-10-06 16:12:01 UTC


TOKYO — Typhoon Phanfone slammed central Japan on Monday, stalling trains and flights and triggering mudslides, before swerving to the Pacific Ocean. It had also washed three American airmen in Okinawa out to sea, killing at least one.

Computer model image showing Typhoon Phanfone located near Tokyo as of early Monday morning in Japan.Elsewhere in the Pacific, Typhoon Vongfong whipped the Mariana Islands, including Guam, with high winds and heavy rain.
In Japan, bullet train service was suspended between Tokyo and Osaka because of the heavy rainfall, and more than 600 flights were canceled at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

BREAKING: 70mph gust reported at #Haneda Int'l Airport in #Tokyo at 9am JST (8pm EDT). #Typhoon #Phanfone pic.twitter.com/a9XJOl25ku
— Hurricane Central (@twc_hurricane) October 6, 2014

The trains resumed service later in the day, although with delays.

Sotetsu line stops all train cause of typhoon hard rain.I'm in my stopped train now and it will start again after about 2 hours?!
— ちさと (@22chisato) October 6, 2014

Typhoon Phanfone came ashore near the city of Hamamatsu shortly after 8 a.m., and traveled northward before turning eastward into the Pacific north of Tokyo.

Typhoon Phanfone as it approached Japan.Image:  NASAAuthorities advised more than 2 million people to evacuate, according to Kyodo News service.

One of the three U.S. airmen who went missing on Okinawa's northern coast was found dead. The other two were still missing, according to the Air Force and the Japanese coast guard.
The Air Force said the search for the missing airmen had been interrupted by rough seas. Their names were being withheld pending notification of relatives. Okinawa is home to about half of the roughly 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan.
Japanese broadcaster NHK reported one death, with five people missing. NHK footage showed flooded areas of Kanagawa prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, where people were wading in knee-high muddy water, and buildings and parked cars were sitting in big pools of water.

The search for a dozen people still missing after a volcanic eruption in central Japan was suspended Sunday, and did not resume Monday, because of worries about possible landsides. The Sept. 27 eruption killed at least 51 hikers.
Typhoon Vongfong
Meanwhile, attention was also shifting southeast to Typhoon Vongfong, which was gathering strength and moving on a course that could impact Japan in about a week. Some computer models were predicting a nearly exact repeat of Typhoon Phanfone's track, but uncertainties remained this far in advance.
Typhoon Vongfong is predicted to strengthen into a super typhoon as it traverses the warm waters of the western Pacific Ocean, equivalent to a Category Three or Four hurricane, before cooler ocean waters and atmospheric wind shear begin to weaken it as it nears Japan. The potential for back to back typhoons in Japan raises the threat of widespread inland flooding and mudslide risks. 
The flood threat arises because, including Typhoon Phanfone, Japan has been hit by three typhoons so far this season, along with several weaker storm systems. Each of these storms have dumped one to two feet or more of rain in parts of the mountainous country. 

Typhoon Vongfong's predicted path from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.Image:  Joint Typhoon Warning CenterIn the Marianas, the eye of Typhoon Vongfong skirted Rota, a small island with about 2,500 residents where many buildings are made of concrete.
Power outages and minor flooding were reported Monday morning. But by early afternoon, there were no reports of injuries or major damage anywhere on the islands as the storm moved away from the region. The weather service canceled a flash-flood watch for the islands.
The brunt of the storm bypassed Guam, where many residents heeded warnings about high winds and flooding by taking refuge in designated shelters.
As conditions improved, Guam officials shut down the island's storm center, the airport resumed full operations, and government agencies and many businesses began reopening. There was some flooding in low-lying areas, but roads were passable.
Typhoon Vongfong had maximum sustained winds of about 195 kilometers (105 miles) per hour, said Roger Edson of the National Weather Service in Guam. Winds on the islands of Guam, Tinian and Saipan were gusting to at least 102 kph (55 mph).
Additional reporting by Mashable
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Topics:
Climate, flood, japan, typhoon, typhoon Phanfone, US & World, World













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