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WEATHER REPORT
US military officials feared dead as typhoon slams into Japan
by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) Oct 06, 2014


Seven crew aboard missing Malaysia gunboat 'safe': official
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Oct 06, 2014 - The commander of a Malaysian gunboat that went missing a day ago has confirmed the safety of all seven crew onboard after establishing radio contact, but rough seas were hampering rescue operations, the navy said Monday.

The vessel went missing after it set out for a routine sea patrol in the South China Sea on Sunday near Mengalum island off eastern Sabah state on Borneo island.

"The boat and crew members are safe," navy chief Abdul Aziz Jaafar said on Twitter.

The vessel's commander confirmed that in a radio message, Jaafar said, adding that strong waves were preventing rescue ships from reaching the stricken gunboat.

In an earlier statement, the navy said that the missing gunboat was on its way to its operational area in Layang Layang atoll, which is part of the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea.

China claims almost all of the sea, a vital avenue for world trade that is also believed to harbour vast oil and gas reserves.

But its claims overlap in parts with those of Malaysia, as well as the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan.

The gunboat had departed from its base with another fast-attack craft KD Paus early Sunday, the New Straits Times said Monday.

Officials believe it lost contact with the base after being hit by strong waves, according to the newspaper.

Strong typhoon Phanfone slammed into Japan Monday, packing gusting winds and huge waves that swept three US military officials out to sea in another stark reminder of the country's vulnerability to nature.

Just over a week after a volcano killed dozens of hikers when it erupted without warning, winds of up to 180 kilometres (112 miles) per hour whipped ashore, bringing heavy rain and travel chaos throughout a swathe of the archipelago.

The storm whirled over Tokyo at around 11:00 am (0200 GMT) and then headed northeast, dumping rain further up the coast of Honshu while its eye moved out over the Pacific Ocean.

Seven people were left dead or missing, including the three US military officials who had been photographing the storm, Japanese police and coast guards said.

Typhoon Phanfone grounded more than 600 flights, and caused the cancellation of dozens of bullet train services, leaving travellers stranded in stations.

The leading edge of the storm brought a nasty commute to Tokyo's morning rush hour, with hundreds of thousands of office workers caught up in the driving rain that lashed the streets.

Localised flooding was reported while television footage showed around 15 of the 20-metre (66-foot) high poles holding up the netting at a golf driving range had collapsed, crashing into houses in Chiba, east of Tokyo.

The storm also battered Japan's auto industries.

Toyota Motor temporarily suspended operations at its 12 factories in Aichi, central Japan, due to the impact of the typhoon on its parts supplies, a company spokeswoman said, adding that production lines reopened by Monday evening.

- Risk of further flooding -

The weather agency warned that even as the storm passed out to sea landslides and floods were still a risk in a country where a relatively wet summer brought numerous landslides, including in Hiroshima where more than 70 people died.

In the central Japanese prefecture of Shizuoka, more than 50,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes, while around 1.7 million others were advised to take refuge, local authorities said.

Three US military officials were engulfed by high waves triggered by the storm on the southern island of Okinawa.

"Three officials were taking pictures with high waves whipped up by the typhoon in the background," a local police spokesman said.

"One has been found dead, with the two others still missing," he said early Monday.

A 21-year-old surfer was also missing in the Pacific off Fujisawa, southwest of Tokyo, a coast guard spokesman said.

And rescuers were searching through the mess left by two separate landslides in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, where two people were missing.

A junior high school boy had also disappeared after being swamped by high waves on the coast at Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, a city official said.

About 57 people were injured across the country in storm-related accidents, public broadcaster NHK said.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on the northeastern Pacific coast, said it had halted ground and sea operations, and bundled away cables and hoses.

"We are also patrolling and checking where water may flow in," a company spokesman said.

In the mountainous centre of the country, the typhoon meant the suspension of the search for the bodies of at least 12 hikers believed to be lying on the still-smouldering Mount Ontake. The mountain has already yielded 51.

The volcano was packed with walkers when it burst angrily to life on September 27, with many there to witness the spectacular colours of the countryside as summer turned to autumn.

The eruption was Japan's deadliest in almost 90 years and nearly 1,000 troops, firefighters and police have participated in a search made treacherous by the gases still rising from the peak, as well as a knee-deep layer of sticky ash.

"We want to resume operations as soon as possible when weather permits," said an official of the crisis management office of Nagano, where the volcano sits.

.


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