Heavy rainfall, strong winds continue after typhoon sweeps Japan

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TOKYO. KAZINFORM - Heavy rainfall and strong winds continued in parts of Japan on Friday as a powerful typhoon lingered over the Sea of Japan after ripping through the western part of the country the previous day, triggering landslide and flood warnings, Kyodo reports.

Typhoon Krosa, which left three people dead and dozens injured, also forced around 1,700 passengers to stay overnight at Kansai airport in Osaka, where 232 domestic and international flights were canceled.

The body of Noriyuki Kumabuchi, 71, was found around 8:40 a.m. Friday after he was swept away while fishing the previous night in a river in Kamigori, Hyogo Prefecture.

The body of 11-year-old Neneko Mori was found on the seabed about 120 meters off Shimoda in the central Japan prefecture of Shizuoka, about six hours after she was swept away at around 11:30 a.m. with her elder sister, who managed to reach the shore.

The typhoon, with an atmospheric pressure of 980 hectopascals at its center and packing winds of up to 126 kilometers per hour, was moving northeast at a speed of 35 kph around 230 km west of Okushiri Island in the northernmost main island of Hokkaido as of 6 p.m. Friday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The season's 10th typhoon is expected to be downgraded to an extratropical cyclone by early Saturday, traveling northeast in the Sea of Japan close to Hokkaido, the agency said.

In addition to heavy rain, the typhoon caused high temperatures in a phenomenon known as a foehn wind, in which moist air becomes warm and dry after crossing a mountain and blows down on the lee side.

In Nikaho in Akita Prefecture, northeastern Japan, the mercury shot up to 36.5 C at 6:18 a.m., while in the city of Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture, Thursday's low was 31.3 C, a record high for a minimum temperature in the country.

At the Kansai airport terminal building, passengers formed long lines for drinking water and sleeping bags that were distributed for free.

The operator of the main international air gateway in western Japan had stocked items such as water and blankets for 12,000 people after a powerful typhoon in September last year left about 8,000 people stranded.

Strong winds triggered by Typhoon Jebi caused a tanker vessel to crash into the sole bridge connecting the airport on a manmade island to the mainland.

«We didn't have enough money to stay in a hotel, so it was a relief to be given a sleeping bag,» said Seiya Kurokawa, a 20-year-old university student who was scheduled to travel to Thailand.

The weather agency forecast 200 millimeters of rain in Hokkaido in the 24 hours through 6 p.m. Saturday. Hokkaido is also expected to see gusts of 126 kph, while the Tohoku region will see gusts of 108 kph, the agency said.

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