Typhoon Meari hits south Japan, triggers floods
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-29 23:51

A record eighth typhoon swept through southern Japan on Wednesday, killing at least two people, triggering floods and strong winds that forced the evacuation of tens of thousands.

Cars are jammed on a road flooded by Typhoon Meari in Tsu, western Japan, September 29, 2004. The typhoon landed on Japan's southwestern island of Kyushu on Wednesday, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate as it unleashed heavy rains and strong winds over the southern and western parts of the country. [Retuers]

"It is very unusual this year because we have had so many typhoons. The typhoon this time brought lots of rain here," an official in Tokushima on Shikoku told Reuters.

The storm was moving northeast at 25 miles an hour after crossing the coast of sparsely populated Shikoku island around 3 p.m., the Meteorological Agency said.

Public broadcaster NHK said at least 55 people were injured and about 180,000 people were urged to evacuate. It said the storm had caused power outages affecting about 710,000 houses.

"This is the heaviest rain I've ever had in my life. I can't sleep because I am worried about my house," the Mainichi newspaper quoted a 90-year-old man in Miyagawamura village, in the western prefecture of Mie, as saying.

Six people were missing in the village after landslides destroyed several houses.

"Several houses were destroyed by landslides and we have not been able to find the six unaccounted for. We have just decided to stop our rescue operations for the day. We will resume our rescue operations tomorrow morning," said an official in Miyagawamura village.

Also missing are a 70-year-old woman who fell into a river and a 74-year-old man who went fishing by the sea in Yamaguchi in western Japan. Two elderly men were found dead in a river in Mie.

Soldiers, police and local government officials rescued about 100 people at a home for the elderly in Mie after they were stranded by waist-high floodwaters.

Television footage showed high waves breaking on shorelines and palm trees bending violently in the wind.

Ferries and flights to the region were canceled and some train services stopped due to Meari, which means "echo" in Korean.

The typhoon forced the cancellation of 353 domestic flights to and from airports in Kyushu and Shikoku on Wednesday, affecting about 20,000 travelers, airport officials said.

Nearly 50 people have been killed in series of storms that have battered Japan and South Korea (news - web sites) this year.

Earlier this month, typhoon Songda, one of the most powerful to hit Japan in recent years, killed at least 30 people and injured hundreds. Typhoon Megi killed at least 13 people in Japan and South Korea in August.

The weather agency said Meari was expected to weaken and be downgraded around midday Thursday after crossing the western part of Japan's main island of Honshu.