Ten people were killed and 16 were missing after the most powerful typhoon to hit Japan in decades paralyzed Tokyo, causing rivers to overflow and leaving almost half a million homes without power, public broadcaster NHK reported on Sunday, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Authorities lifted rain and flood warnings for the Kanto region around a becalmed Tokyo as the typhoon plowed up Japan’s northeast coast and authorities raced to assess the damage. Warnings for areas north of the capital began to be lifted by Sunday morning.
Typhoon Hagibis was expected to head out to sea on Sunday evening after churning its way up the northern island of Hokkaido.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened an emergency meeting of relevant ministers and dispatched the minister in charge of disaster management to the worst-hit areas. He offered condolences to the families of those who died and said the government was working to save people’s lives and property.
“The government will do everything in its power to cooperate with relevant agencies to restore services as soon as possible,” said Abe. The government has also set up a taskforce to deal with the damage, NHK reported.
Ten people were killed in areas including the Chiba, Gunma, Kanagawa and Fukushima prefectures surrounding Tokyo, NHK said. Among them was a man in his 60s who was found in a flooded apartment in Kawasaki, it said.
Sixteen people were also missing on Sunday, it said, adding that the full extent of the damage was only beginning to emerge because it was widespread and many areas were still under water.