Typhoon Talas leaves fatalities and destruction in Japan

New prime minister Yoshihiko Noda promises urgent assistance as winds and rain leave thousands stranded in central areas Rescuers and search parties were scouring central Japan on Monday as the death toll from the worst typhoon to hit the country in seven years climbed to 26. Typhoon Talas, which was later downgraded to a tropical storm, lashed coastal areas with destructive winds and rain at the weekend before moving offshore into the Sea of Japan. Fifty two people were missing and thousands were stranded as the typhoon washed outbridges, railways and roads. The scenes of destruction were an unwelcome reminder of Japan’s vulnerability to natural disasters as the country attempts to recover from the 11 March earthquake and tsunami. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who was sworn in a day before the storm, said the government would provide assistance as quickly as it could. His predecessor, Naoto Kan, was forced out of office chiefly because of public anger over the government’s response to the tsunami, which left nearly 21,000 people dead or missing and sparked the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. “We will do everything we can to rescue people and search for the missing,” Noda said. The typhoon was believed to be the worst to hit Japan since 2004, when 98 people were killed or reported missing. It caused most damage on the Kii peninsula in central Japan, south-west of Tokyo and hundreds of miles from the north-eastern coast, which bore the brunt of the effects of the earthquake and tsunami. The extent of damage from the typhoon continued to emerge on Monday. Rescuers and reconnaissance teams spread out over the worst-hit areas to look for survivors or people stranded in flood zones. Television footage showed washed-out train bridges, neighbourhoods inundated by swollen rivers and police using rope to pull frightened survivors out of homes. The government’s emergency headquarters put the death toll at 26 on Monday morning. About 100,000 people were being advised to evacuate their homes. Most of the dead were in Wakayama prefecture, said local official Seiji Yamamoto. He said 17 were killed there and another 28 people were missing. “There are so many roads out that it is hard to count them all,” he said. “Hundreds of homes have been flooded.” Rains and wind were recorded across wide swaths of Japan’s main island, but no significant damage was reported in the north-east. At least 3,600 people were stranded by flooded rivers, landslides and collapsed bridges that were hampering rescue efforts, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported. The centre of the typhoon crossed the southern island of Shikoku and the central part of the main island of Honshu overnight on Saturday. It moved slowly north across the Sea of Japan off the country’s west coast, the Japan meteorological agency said. Japan Natural disasters and extreme weather Yoshihiko Noda guardian.co.uk

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