The strong Typhoon Ma-On stroke southern Japan with torrential rains and strong winds leaving dozens injured and cancelling more than 100 flights.
Packing gusts of up to 180kmh, the storm made landfall over south-western Shikoku late on Tuesday, bringing up to 120cm of rain since Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Ma-On – named after a Hong Kong mountain – was 40km west of Wakayama prefecture, some 450km from Tokyo, slowly moving east at the speed of 15kmh on Wednesday morning, it said.
At least one person was missing and 51 injured, while 130 domestic flights were cancelled, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The weather agency warned that the tsunami-hit north-east coastal area would see rainfall of up to 20cm over a day to Thursday morning, urging the region to brace for possible landslides and floods.
Tokyo, July 20, 2011 (AFP)
