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Powerful typhoon causes chaos among commuters in Tokyo
A powerful typhoon has caused chaos in Tokyo as it disrupts train services that prompt people unable to travel to work.
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Commuters are in confusion as train services are disrupted due to powerful typhoon in Wakayama prefecture, Japan, on Sunday evening. (The Japan News/ANN/File photo)
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powerful typhoon caused chaos for commuters on Monday morning in the Tokyo metropolitan area after violent winds struck across widespread areas overnight, severely affecting train services.
Typhoon No. 24 landed in Wakayama Prefecture on Sunday night and traveled through the Kanto region, moving across the Tohoku region in the early hours of Monday, bringing violent winds to the affected areas.
Two people died and one remains missing due to heavy rain and strong winds, while about 170 people were injured in 29 prefectures and Tokyo as a result of the typhoon, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun count as of 11 a.m. Monday.
Some early-morning train services were unable to run in the Kanto region due to fallen trees along railways.
The typhoon moved away from Japan after traveling off the Sanriku coastal area at speeds of up to about 100 kph.
The latest typhoon registered a record maximum instantaneous wind speed of 45.6 meters per second in Hachioji, Tokyo. It was 42.2 meters in Tokyo’s Miyakejima island and 42 meters in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
From Sunday to Monday, the typhoon set new records for maximum instantaneous wind speeds in 49 locations in Tokyo and 17 prefectures stretching from the Kyushu region to the Tohoku region.
In central Tokyo, it registered 39.3 meters per second, the third-strongest wind since such data were first kept.
On Monday morning, some train services in the Tokyo metropolitan area could not run from the day’s first train due to fallen trees and other reasons stemming from the powerful typhoon.
East Japan Railway Co. halted all train services after 8 p.m. Sunday, following a suspension announcement earlier in the day. Travel disruptions continued for many commuters on Monday morning after the previous night’s large-scale suspensions.
Platform access to the JR lines at Shinjuku and Mitaka stations, among other stations, was restricted, leaving many commuters queuing at ticket gates.
A 28-year-old company employee at Shinjuku Station said: “With no service on the Keio Railway line, which I use to get to work, I’m here to use a JR line. I didn’t think there would be access restrictions. I’m completely stuck.”
Shinkansen services from the first train of the day were also disrupted after a fallen tree was found between Tokyo and Nagoya stations on the Tokaido Shinkansen line.
This article appeared on The Japan News newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
