Tropical storm Noru batters Honshu bringing torrential rain

2017-08-08 1

A tropical storm is moving northeast along the coast of Japan’s main island of Honshu, bringing heavy rain to wide areas. Two people have died and over 50 others have been injured.

The Ane River overflowed in Shiga Prefecture in the early hours of Tuesday.

Previously Typhoon Noru was downgraded just before making landfall near Osaka. The storm is moving north-northeast at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, but it is packing winds of up to 72 kilometers per hour at its centre.

#Flooding, landslide risk persists as #Typhoon #Noru continues to lash #Japan. https://t.co/8N3RxDiNfQ pic.twitter.com/nrqCfYEDgU— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) August 7, 2017


Torrential rains are hitting spots in wide areas. Strong winds that seemed like a tornado knocked over vehicles and damaged about 30 houses in the city of Toyohashi. Authorities of many municipalities are advising people to be on the alert for landslides and floods.

About 116,000 people in 4 prefectures are on evacuation standby. Airlines cancelled 65 flights on Tuesday, including those connecting Tokyo’s Haneda Airport to areas in western and central Japan.