Typhoon Dujuan Nears Japan's Kanto Region

Tokyo, Sept. 21 (Jiji Press)--Powerful Typhoon Dujuan passed northeastward over waters north of Hachijojima in the Izu island chain south of Tokyo on Monday afternoon and approached the Boso Peninsula in the Kanto region in eastern Japan.

The Izu islands and southern parts of the Kanto region were battered by heavy rain and strong winds, with a series of landslides occurring in Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures. The typhoon is expected to move away from the Kanto region over waters to the east from early Tuesday.

In the cities of Yokosuka and Miura in Kanagawa, mud flowed into houses, apartment buildings and other structures Monday afternoon. A total of three female residents could not be contacted, and police and firefighters were searching for them.

In the city of Sodegaura in Chiba, a man in his 50s who was working to remove debris from a landslide fell down a cliff along with the heavy machinery he was operating. He was taken to a hospital and was unconscious and in critical condition.

At 12:40 p.m. Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued its highest-level, or Level 5, emergency warning for landslides for the town of Oshima on Izu Oshima in the Izu island chain. Emergency orders urging residents to take immediate measures to ensure their safety were issued for Oshima as well as the Chiba municipalities of Ichihara, Kimitsu, Sodegaura, Sanmu, Sakura and Otaki. The emergency warning was downgraded to a lower-level warning at 11 p.m.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]