Typhoon Dujuan leaves four people dead in Japan

Typhoon Dujuan left at least four people dead and 22 injured in Japan, while thousands of houses near Tokyo were without power after the storm swept through the region, authorities said yesterday.

The typhoon moved away from Japan’s coast and out into the Pacific Ocean by morning, allowing authorities to lift or downgrade most heavy rain and landslide warnings.

Dujuan had already led to the early closure in the capital of one of the world’s biggest video game trade fairs.

A residential area flooded due to heavy rain caused by Typhoon Dujuan in Sakura, Japan, is pictured from the air yesterday.

Photo: Kyodo via Reuters

Japan often sees strong typhoons in the late summer and early autumn, with other storms this season disrupting some events at the Asian Games being held in the country.

The Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency said three people died in Chiba Prefecture and one in Kanagawa region, both near Tokyo.

Search operations were continuing for six people missing after landslides triggered by torrential rain, the agency said.

More than 45,000 households in Chiba were still without electricity yesterday afternoon, while more than 460 houses were damaged.

Although Dujuan weakened as it moved northeast, it dumped record rainfall in parts of the Tokyo area.

Oshima, an island about 120km south of central Tokyo, recorded 832mm of rain over 48 hours, more than double its average rainfall for the whole of September, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Rainfall in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward reached a record 282.5mm over 24 hours.

Scientists say human-driven climate change is intensifying the risk posed by heavy rains because a warmer atmosphere holds more water.