Death and Damage toll increases in Japan as New Storm Forms off coast
Pastor Dale Morgan
Death and Damage toll increases in Japan as New Storm Forms off coast*
By Aaron Sheldrick
Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese teams began clearing roads of debris and
fixing bridges damaged by Typhoon Melor, which swept across Honshu
yesterday, as a new storm developed over the Pacific to the south of Tokyo.
As many as fsix people died after Melor, the first typhoon to make
landfall in Japan since September 2007, crossed the coast near the city
of Nagoya, bringing winds of 139 kilometers (86 miles) per hour and
stranding millions of commuters and airline passengers.
Almost 100 people were injured and more than 500 houses were either
damaged or destroyed, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. The
agency’s official toll was two dead. National broadcaster NHK Television
said four died, and Nippon Television Network reported another death.
Train services north of Tokyo have resumed after being suspended earlier
because of the typhoon, except for one line where a track inspection is
being carried out, East Japan Railways Co. said on its Web site.
Some flights to and from Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four main
islands, may be delayed, All Nippon Airways Co. and Japan Airlines Corp.
said. International flights are operating normally.
Warnings and alerts for strong winds, rain and flooding remain in effect
for parts of Honshu and Hokkaido to the north as Melor, now a tropical
storm, moved further offshore.
Insured Losses
Melor may have caused insured losses of as much as 130 billion yen ($1.5
billion), according to a statement from Air Worldwide Corp., which
describes itself as a risk modeling software provider and is based in
Boston.
Melor was 200 kilometers east-southeast of the town of Nemuro in
northeastern Hokkaido at 9 a.m., the Japan Meteorological Agency said on
its Web site.
The storm was moving east-northeast at 45 kilometers per hour. The
storm’s maximum sustained winds declined to 102 kph from 111 kph late
yesterday, according to the agency.
To the south of Japan, Tropical Depression 21W formed overnight near the
American territory of Saipan, the U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center
said. The storm was 517 kilometers northwest of Saipan at 9 a.m. Tokyo
time and had winds of 56 kph. It was moving north at 22 kph.
The depression is forecast to strengthen to a tropical storm by 9 a.m.
tomorrow and continue a northerly track. The center’s five-day forecast
doesn’t indicate it will reach mainland Japan.
Melor, the 20th storm of the northwest Pacific cyclone season, is the
Malaysian word for Jasmine flowers, according to the Hong Kong
Observatory, which lists names in use for Pacific storms on its Web site.