Typhoon Vongfong made landfall in Japan, bringing strong winds of up to 180 km/h and heavy rain. At least one person was reported missing and dozens injured. Over 500 flights were cancelled as the typhoon was forecast to affect large parts of the country through Tuesday, bringing landslides, floods and further damage. Search efforts for victims of a recent volcano eruption were suspended due to the typhoon.

1. Typhoon Vongfong slams into Japan
Typhoon Vongfong slams into Japan - Yahoo News
Tokyo (AFP) - Powerful typhoon Vongfong barrelled into Japan's main islands Monday, with at least
one person missing and dozens injured while more than 500 flights were grounded, officials and
local media said.
Winds of up to 180 kilometres (112 miles) per hour whipped ashore as the typhoon made landfall at
Makurazaki on Kyushu island Monday morning, the meteorological agency said.
The season's 19th typhoon, which had already
struck Japan's southwestern island chain of
Okinawa over the weekend, was located in Kochi
prefecture as of 3:00 pm (0600 GMT) and still
packing strong winds and heavy rain, the agency
said.
It is forecast to churn northeast through the
Japanese archipelago at a speed of 30 kilometres
per hour, the agency said, adding that it may reach the Kanto region -- which includes Tokyo -- late
Monday or early Tuesday.
"It is necessary to be on strict alert against gusts and high waves as winds can blow powerfully even
in areas far from the centre of the typhoon," Hiroshi Sasaki, the agency's chief meteorologist, told a
news conference.
"Please do not approach dangerous areas such as swollen rivers or seashore," Sasaki said. "Please
secure your safety before winds and rain strengthen."

2. View gallery A pedestrian walks against strong wind at
Kagoshima, Japan's southern island of Kyushu on Octobe ...
Television footage showed the roof and walls of a house ripped off by gusts in Makurazaki, while
huge waves were smashing into breakwaters.
Strong winds also destroyed concrete block walls while muddy streams were roaring along a rain-swollen
river in other areas of Kyushu.
NHK said at least 56 people had been injured in typhoon-related accidents so far, a figure which
included the 23 hurt as the monster storm pounded the southern Okinawa islands.
Local authorities issued evacuation advisories to as many as 450,000 residents mainly in
southwestern Japan Monday morning, NHK said.
At Shizuoka in central Japan three Chinese people were swept away by high waves triggered by the
typhoon on Sunday afternoon as they were fishing on the coast, a local police spokesman said.
View gallery Roadside trees are blown by strong winds
brought on by powerful typhoon Vongfong in Miyazaki, Japan& ...
"Two of them were rescued safely but the remaining one aged 26 is still missing," the spokesman

3. said.
The weather agency warned that landslides, floods, high waves and heavy rains could hit a large
swathe of the archipelago, where a relatively wet summer brought numerous landslides -- including
in Hiroshima where more than 70 people died.
The typhoon also paralysed traffic, stranding tens of thousands of people travelling around the
country at the end of a three-day national holiday.
Japanese airlines reportedly cancelled at least 529 flights, while West Japan Railway said it planned
to suspend all local services in the western region of Kansai later in the day.
Mitsubishi Motors decided to halt part of its operations at four plants in western and central Japan
"in order to secure employees' safety".
The typhoon came just a week after another strong tropical cyclone whipped through the country,
leaving 11 people dead or missing.
Due to the latest storm, the search was suspended for the bodies of at least seven hikers believed to
be lying on the still-smouldering Mount Ontake, from where 56 bodies have already been retrieved.
The volcano was packed with walkers when it burst angrily to life on September 27, with many there
to witness the spectacular autumn foliage.
The eruption was Japan's deadliest in almost 90 years. Hundreds of troops, firefighters and police
have joined a search made treacherous by the gases still rising from the peak, as well as a knee-deep
layer of sticky ash.
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