Typhoon damages an aerospace agency center in Japan

Tokyo, Sep 20 (EFE).- Typhoon Nanmadol damaged a Japanese aerospace agency facility as it moved across the archipelago on Tuesday, killing two people and wounding more than 100, according to officials.

NHK public broadcaster reported that a wall was damaged at a Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency’s space center on the island of Tanegashima, south of Kyushu.

The damaged portion of the center is used to assemble and test rockets.

Government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed the death of two people while one remained missing due to the tropical storm that brought down heavy rain as it moved through Japan.

A man was found dead after a mudslide washed away his mountainside cabin in Miyazaki Prefecture.

Another person was confirmed dead after rescuers pulled the body out of a car submerged in flooded farmland in the same prefecture.

A man was missing in Hiroshima.

Authorities said the typhoon, which made landfall in Japan on Sunday, is one of the most powerful storms to have hit southwestern Japan.

Waves washed away an entire 80-meter pier and a ship that had anchored near the city of Saiki, Oita prefecture, northeast of Kyushu.

The broken structure and the vessel were found four kilometers away in a rice paddy.

Some 300,000 homes were without power due to the tropical storm, the NHK said.

During a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged ministers to reduce damages as much as possible and ensure people’s safety.

Kishida delayed his trip to New York, where he would attend the UN General Assembly.

Since the beginning of the storm, the Miyazaki prefecture in southern Kyushu has accumulated 1,000 mm of rainfall, an unprecedented level, according to NHK.

Nanmadol forced the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on Saturday to activate for the first time the highest typhoon alert.

Authorities are urged residents in the most affected areas, especially Kyushu, to take shelter in safe places – elevated above the ground, with solid construction – or go to evacuation centers.

The storm forced the cancellation of more than 700 flights on Monday. Bullet train services were widely suspended.

The state-run Kyodo news agency said rainfall of up to 80 millimeters was expected over the 24 hours through noon Wednesday in central and eastern Japan, including Tokyo, and 60 mm in the northeast. EFE

yk-emg/ssk