Typhoon Talas lashes Japan, setting off landslides

TOKYO: A typhoon lashed central Japan on Saturday with torrential rain and fierce winds, killing two and leaving tens of thousands of households without power, the Kyodo news agency reported.Shizuoka city, south-west of Tokyo, was hit especially hard, seeing a record 417mm (16.42 inches) of precipitation since the rain started on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

Winds at the centre of the Typhoon Talas were blowing at about 65km/h (40mph), with peak gusts of about 90km/h (56mph), it said. A man in his 40s was killed in a landslide and a 29-year-old man was found dead after his car plunged into a reservoir, Kyodo reported.

Power was also cut to about 120,000 households, supplier Chubu Electric Power Grid Co said, adding that a landslide had knocked over two electricity pylons.

“We are expecting it may take some time to restore power due to landslides, among other factors,” the company said on its Twitter account.

Central JR restarted some of its bullet train services, which had been suspended from Friday evening because of the rain.

The JMA downgraded the typhoon to a extratropical cyclone on Saturday morning but it forecast further torrential rain in Shizuoka and urged caution for landslides and flooding.

Yokohama city, around 30km south of Tokyo, also issued an evacuation advisory at about noon on Saturday to about 3,000 residents. The powerful storm is the latest to hit Japan in recent weeks.