Record-breaking Typhoon Faxai batters Tokyo, leaving one dead and causing travel chaos in Japan
A powerful typhoon barrelled through Japan's Tokyo region early on Monday with record-breaking winds, killing one woman and leaving more than 900,000 homes without power.
Typhoon Faxai – the 15th of the season - made landfall in the city of Chiba, east of Tokyo, shortly before dawn, whipping up 129 mph gusts of wind that were reportedly the strongest ever recorded in the area.
Media footage catalogued extensive damage, including flooded streets, uprooted trees and branches, fallen signposts and twisted rooftops.
More than 30 people were injured and a woman in her fifties died after being found unconscious on a street in the residential Setagaya district of Tokyo, NHK reported.
CCTV footage showed her being blown head-first into a building by the force of the wind.
A woman in her twenties was also seriously injured after her home in east Tokyo collapsed when a metal pole from a driving range fell onto it.
The typhoon unleashed widespread travel chaos, prompting the cancellation of more than 130 flights and close to 120 bullet trains.
Millions of commuters also faced travel setbacks, with numerous train lines cancelling services for several hours while tracks were checked and cleared of debris.
Around 210,000 homes in the Tokyo region were reportedly hit by power cuts in the aftermath of the storm, while the whole city of Kanagawa lost power.
The authorities issued widespread warnings to residents before the storm hit, with non-compulsory evacuation orders issued to an estimated 390,000 people in Tokyo, Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures.
The typhoon is expected to move northeast, leaving Japan and heading towards the open Pacific over the next 24 hours, with the force of its winds weakening to around 26mph by Tuesday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
The storm arrived less than two weeks before the Rugby World Cup is due to kick off, sparking concerns that it may have caused disruption to preparations for competitors and the expected 400,000 overseas visitors.
England manager Eddie Jones, a former manager of the Japanese national team, said his side would have to "ride with it," reported the BBC.
The arrival of the Australian squad has already been delayed by the typhoon, although the French squad arrived in Japan shortly before it hit.
Faxai is the latest in a series of strong storms to hit the region during the regular summer typhoon season. Last week Typhoon Lingling passed over the Korean peninsula, killing eight people.
The storm flooded 178 square miles of farmland, according to North Korea’s news agency KCNA, prompting concerns that the region’s already chronic food shortages will worsen.
