Typhoon slams Japanese island
Pastor Dale Morgan
Typhoon slams Japanese island*
From correspondents in Tokyo
August 18, 2006 05:47pm
Article from: Agence France-Presse
TYPHOON Wukong slammed today into the southern Japanese island of
Kyushu, triggering landslides, cancelling dozens of flights and leading
to two deaths and three injuries, officials said.
Wukong, which means Monkey King in Chinese, hit Miyazaki prefecture some
900 kilometres southwest of Tokyo early today and lashed the region with
heavy rains, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Some 110 people were evacuated from the path of the 10th typhoon of the
season but the first to make landfall on the main Japanese islands.
A 66-year-old man was seriously injured in Nagasaki prefecture in
northern Kyushu as he broke his hip after falling from the roof where he
was fixing gutter downpipes, a police spokesman said.
Two other people were also injured on Kyushu today, while a surfer and
an angler died yesterday in rough weather conditions caused by Wukong,
police said. Another angler was missing.
The typhoon also caused seven landslides, cut roads at three points and
damaged three houses on the southwestern island, he said.
As of 1.40pm (1440 AEST), the typhoon was located over Nagasaki
prefecture, packing winds up to 83 kilometres per hour.
It was moving northwest at a speed of 15 kilometres per hour, sweeping
over Kyushu, the agency said, adding that it was likely to head toward
South Korea.
Japan Airlines cancelled at least 31 flights while All Nippon Airways
called off 34 flights.
Several local train services were suspended on Kyushu.
Passenger ships were also cancelled between Fukuoka, Kyushu's biggest
population centre, and South Korea's second largest city Busan.