Typhoon Faxai lashes Tokyo region with record winds, affecting Singapore flights

TOKYO, Sep 9, 2019, The Straits Times. The Greater Tokyo area encountered its most violent storm in history overnight as Typhoon Faxai lashed the region, leaving behind in its wake early morning transport snarls and stifling heat on Monday (Sept 9), reported The Straits Times.

Temperatures are expected to rise to a high of 36 deg C hours after Faxai – the 15th typhoon of the season – swept through the world’s largest metropolitan area, felling trees and power lines, toppling walls and scaffolding, and blowing away roofs.

At least 30 people were injured in Chiba, Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures. A woman in her 20s was seriously hurt after pillars at a golf practice range fell onto her home in Ichihara city in Chiba prefecture. Kyodo News reported that a Tokyo woman in her 50s died after apparently being knocked over by the gusts.

The storm, which is expected to fizzle out over the Pacific Ocean by Monday afternoon after heading north-east at a speed of 25 kmh through the Tohoku region, had sparked non-compulsory evacuation warnings for more than 390,000 people.

About 880,000 households were without power as at 10am on Monday.

Commuters braving the storm also endured three to four times longer than usual journeys to work.

Train operators including JR East and Toei Subway suspended major lines until at least 8am on Monday, wrecking havoc on the peak hour commute.

As at 9.30am, over 90 per cent of train stations in the Tokyo are restricting entry due to overcrowding, train information account @Trainfo said on Twitter.

One of Tokyo’s busiest and most important services – the JR Yamanote railway loop – only resumed service at 10.30am, after its operator inspected tracks and cleared debris between Shinagawa and Osaki stations where a tree fell onto an overhead power line.

More than 100 flights have been cancelled or rescheduled, among them two Singapore Airlines (SIA) flights from Singapore to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

Other flights affected include arrivals into Singapore on Monday which have been retimed. SIA’s SQ639 will land at 4pm instead of 8.25am, while All Nippon Airlines’ NH843 will land at 3pm, instead of 6.40am, according to the Changi Airport website.

The Japan Meteorological Agency had said on Sunday that Typhoon Faxai was forecast to pack ferocious winds of up to 216kmh with an atmospheric pressure of 960 hectopascals at its centre.

Estimated rainfall for the 24-hour period until 12pm on Monday was up to 300mm in the Greater Tokyo region and up to 150mm in the Tohoku region.

To prepare for its approach, about 100 bullet train services were scrapped on Sunday evening, as were ferry services in Tokyo Bay.

Many department stores and restaurants closed hours earlier than scheduled, to allow employees and customers time to get home before the storm hit. The typhoon made landfall in Chiba, east of the capital, just before 5am (4am Singapore time), after pummelling Tokyo Bay.

The storm was the top trending topic on Twitter, which was lit up overnight by Japanese users woken up by the ferocity of the storm.

Chiba’s Chuo ward experienced top wind speeds of 207kmh at 4.28am, while Narita felt top speeds of 165kmh at 5.36am and Haneda Airport saw top speeds of 156kmh at 3.27am.

A temporary scaffolding collapsed at the Haneda Airport international terminal, while the gusts also toppled the scaffolding at a multi-story car park at a domestic terminal.

There were reports of collapsed steel advertising boards, shattered window glass, and of corrugated metal roofs being blown away in Kanagawa prefecture.

At least one truck was flipped onto its side, while a roof collapsed at a petrol station in Tateyama, Chiba, crushing the pumps underneath. A 2,982-ton and a 5,578-ton container vessel, docked in Tokyo Bay, collided due to the violent waves.

RUGBY PREPARATIONS AFFECTED

Typhoon Faxai struck as teams began arriving for the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off next Friday (Sept 20).

The Agence France-Presse agency reported that the French team arrived just before the typhoon and reached their training camp near Mount Fuji, though the scheduled arrival of the Australian Wallabies squad was delayed.