Tokyo, Sept. 21 (Jiji Press)–Powerful Typhoon Dujuan passed northeastward over waters north of Hachijojima in the Izu island chain south of Tokyo on Monday afternoon and approached the Boso Peninsula in the Kanto region in eastern Japan. The Izu islands and southern parts of the Kanto region were battered by heavy rain and strong winds, with a series of landslides occurring in Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures. The typhoon is expected to move away from the Kanto region over waters to the east from early Tuesday. In the cities of Yokosuka and Miura in Kanagawa, mud flowed into houses, apartment buildings and other structures Monday afternoon. A total of three female residents could not be contacted, and police and firefighters were searching for them. In the city of Sodegaura in Chiba, a man in his 50s who was working to remove debris from a landslide fell down a cliff along with the heavy machinery he was operating. He was taken to a hospital and was unconscious and in critical condition. At 12:40 p.m. Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest-level, or Level 5, emergency warning for landslides for the town of Oshima on Izu Oshima in the Izu island chain. Emergency orders urging residents to take immediate measures to ensure their safety were issued for Oshima as well as the Chiba municipalities of Ichihara, Kimitsu, Sodegaura, Sanmu, Sakura and Otaki. The emergency warning was downgraded to a lower-level warning at 11 p.m. Rainfall in Oshima totaled 832 millimeters over the 48 hours through 8 p.m. Monday, the highest on record for the location. Many flights to and from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and Narita International Airport near the capital were canceled due to the wind and rain. In Chiba Prefecture, East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, suspended train services on some sections of the Sobu, Uchibo and Sotobo lines and other routes. Some sections of the Ken-o Expressway and the Higashi-Kanto Expressway were also closed to traffic. At 10 p.m., Typhoon Dujuan was moving northeast at 35 kilometers per hour over waters about 140 kilometers east-southeast of Choshi, Chiba Prefecture. It had a central pressure of 960 hectopascals, a maximum sustained wind speed of 40 meters per second and a maximum instantaneous wind speed of 55 meters per second. Its storm zone, with winds of at least 25 meters per second, extended 185 kilometers from the center. Winds of at least 15 meters per second were blowing within 650 kilometers on the eastern side of the storm and 440 kilometers on the western side. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
