Typhoon death toll in Japan climbs to 35 after storm unleashes widespread flooding

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TOKYO — Japan dispatched tens of thousands of troops and rescue workers Sunday after a typhoon unleashed widespread flooding and left 35 people dead and 17 missing.Typhoon Hagibis, which means “speed” in the Philippine language Tagalog, tore through Tokyo and large swaths of Japan’s main island of Honshu on Saturday, bringing record-breaking rains to many areas. By Sunday, more than 20 rivers in central and northeastern Japan had burst their banks, flooding more than 1,000 homes in cities, towns and villages and pushing the death toll higher.At one point, the government had advised nearly 8 million people to evacuate. Many ignored the advice and stayed home, but others headed to shelters. Public broadcaster NHK said some died making their way to shelters, including a 77-year-old woman who fell more than 100 feet to her death during an airlift.The storm sank a Panama-registered cargo ship anchored near Tokyo, killing at least five crew members and leaving three missing, according to local media reports. Around 200,000 homes were without power on Sunday, Japanese media reported,Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set a task force to deal with the damage and dispatched the minister in charge of disaster management to the worst-affected areas. “I extend my condolences for all those who lost their lives and offer my sympathy to all those impacted by the typhoon,” he said. “The government will do everything in its power to cooperate with relevant agencies and operators working to restore services as soon as possible.”Nineteen dead, 16 missing in Japan after Typhoon Hagibis drenches TokyoWinds reached 90 mph at its center shortly after the typhoon made landfall on the Izu Peninsula, not far from Tokyo, on Saturday evening, with gusts over 120 mph, making it the equivalent of a Level 1 hurricane on the U.S. Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. But rather than the wind, it was the rains drenching Honshu all day that caused the most concern.The storm brought life in Tokyo to a standstill on Saturday, but the rain had stopped by midnight, and there was nothing more than a light wind. Residents woke up to blue skies on Sunday, and life in the capital soon returned to normal.At least 800 flights out of Tokyo’s two main airports were still canceled Sunday, but flights were operating on Sunday evening and train services were back to normal.The typhoon also disrupted the Rugby World Cup. Two matches in Yokohama just outside Tokyo were canceled Saturday, and a third between Canada and Namibia was canceled Sunday in Kamaishi in northeastern Japan, in the direction the storm had traveled.But the eagerly awaited and important clash between host Japan and Scotland went ahead in Yokohama, with Japan exciting a raucous crowd with a swashbuckling 28-21 victory, putting it through to the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time.The stadium observed a minute’s silence before the game for victims of the typhoon, while Canadian players volunteered to help clean up Kamaishi.
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Nothing more creepy to me natural disaster wise than massive flooding inundating shit