Neoguri Hits Japan Mainland: Flooding, Landslide Threats Persist
Baku, July 11 (AZERTAC). A devastating landslide crashed through the town of Nagiso late Wednesday, killing a 12-year-old boy, as Tropical Storm Neoguri moved through Japan.
An evacuation advisory was issued for than 670 homes after debris flows destroyed a number of homes in the town. At least one resident, 12-year-old Kaito Kurenuma, was reported dead after the landslide buried his home, according to Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shiumbun. Reuters reports that at least 50 people are injured.
The flows also swept away a steel bridge on the JR Chuo Line and concrete bridges.
The storm reached the southernmost main island of Kyushu on Thursday, and Kyushu's Fukuoka prefecture issued warnings for strong winds, high tides and heavy rains. People were advised to stay indoors as much as possible.
In central Japan, rainfall elevated by the storm caused flooding and an 83-year-old man fell into a swollen river and died in Fukushima.
The torrents of rainfall could trigger more landslides and floods, and much of eastern Japan was at risk of lightning and tornadoes.
According to the Japanese Meteorological Agency, Neoguri's center first made landfall near the city of Akune in Kagoshima Prefecture just before 7 a.m. Japanese time Thursday (6 p.m. Wednesday Eastern time in the U.S.). Akune is on the west coast of Kyushu, the southwesternmost of Japan's four main islands.
Maximum 10-minute sustained winds were estimated at 60 mph at the time of landfall, equivalent to maximum winds of 65 to 70 mph using the U.S. 1-minute sustained wind standard.
Neoguri continues to weaken as it interacts with the jet stream coming off northern China and the Korean Peninsula. These upper-level winds have also turned Neoguri sharply east-northeast along the Japanese mainland. The center of Neoguri should track off the coast of eastern Japan by Friday morning, transitioning to a post-tropical cyclone.
Pockets of heavy rain and some minor wind damage (tree limbs, sporadic power outages) are possible before the low moves offshore. Landslides are a major concern given the rugged terrain of the main islands.
A few coastal locations have reported sustained tropical-storm force winds (39 mph or greater). Muratomisaki, a village in a part of Kochi Prefecture that juts sharply into the Pacific Ocean, reported 50-mph sustained winds and gusts to 66 mph around daybreak Thursday. Seto, roughly halfway between Osaka and Tokyo, reported sustained winds of 60 mph with a gust to 77 mph early Thursday.
Rainfall has added up quickly in some locals as bands of torrential rainfall spiral northward into the country east of the advancing tropical storm.
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