At least 9 reported dead as Japan recovers from biggest storm in decades

At least nine people are reported dead as Japan recovers from its biggest storm in decades.

Typhoon Hagibis triggered floods and landslides as it battered the country with wind speeds of 225km/h.

Rivers have breached their banks in at least 14 different places, inundating residential neighbourhoods.

Hagibis is heading north and is expected to move back into the North Pacific later tonight.

It made landfall in Izu Peninsula, south-west of Tokyo last night and moved up the east coast. Almost half a million homes were left without power.

In the town of Hakone near Mount Fuji more than 1m of rain fell on Friday and Saturday, the highest total ever recorded in Japan over 48 hours.

Further north in Nagano prefecture, levees along the Chikuma river gave way sending water rushing through residential areas, inundating houses.

Flood defences around Tokyo have held and river levels are now falling.

Officials said some of those killed were swept away by landslides while others were trapped in their cars as floodwaters rose. Another 15 people are listed as missing and dozens are reported injured.

More than seven million people were urged to leave their homes as the huge storm approached, but it is thought only 50,000 stayed in shelters.

Many residents stocked up on provisions before the typhoon's arrival, leaving supermarkets with empty shelves.

A huge clean-up operation was underway in Kawasaki near Tokyo.

All flights to and from Tokyo's Haneda airport and Narita airport in Chiba have been cancelled - more than 1,000 in total.

Two Rugby World Cup games scheduled for yesterday were cancelled on safety grounds and declared as draws - England-France and New Zealand-Italy. The cancellations were the first in the tournament's 32-year history.

Typhoon winds so strong it's pushing our hotel around. Wow #hagibis pic.twitter.com/SsXQ0BmHcC

— Brad Weber (@brad_weber9) October 12, 2019

Today's Namibia-Canada match due to take place in Kamaishi was also cancelled and declared a draw.

The US-Tonga fixture in Osaka and Wales-Uruguay in Kumamoto will go ahead as scheduled.

Meanwhile, a crunch game between Scotland and tournament hosts Japan on Sunday will now go ahead. The decision followed a safety inspection.

[Source: BBC]