A powerful typhoon that slammed the Tokyo area with heavy rains and brought mudslide warnings in northern Japan yesterday headed east out into the Pacific Ocean away from the coast.
There were no reports of major damage. Tokyo and nearby areas were back to normal under sunny skies. Bullet trains that canceled services between Tokyo and Nagoya, stranding thousands of passengers, resumed operations with the first morning train.
However, some local trains were still delayed, and dozens of airline flights remained canceled.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Typhoon Ampil was moving away from Japan’s east coast at 20kph, with sustained winds of 162kph, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Ampil did not make landfall and reached closest to Japan after midnight.
The transportation disruptions came when Japan was observing the Bon summer holidays.
Power that went out in more than 5,000 households was back, except for about 250 homes in Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures, northeast of Tokyo, the utility company said.
The typhoon left signboards, trees, bicycles and poles toppled. Some beaches were still off limits to swimmers because of rough seas and strong winds.
The evacuation order for more than 320,000 residents of the city of Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture was lifted.
Caution was advised about fragile buildings that could collapse as well as landslides. Heavy rains and thunder still threatened northern Japan.
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