Typhoon Hagibis hits Japan

Torrential rain and tornado-like winds lashed large parts of Japan, as the country was hit by Typhoon Hagibis. The typhoon is being touted as the strongest storm the country faced in past 60 years since Kanogawa Typhoon (1958).

Key Highlights

Typhoon ‘Hagibis’ means ‘speed’ in Philippine language, Tagalog.

Evacuation: More than 7 million people were urged to leave their homes amid severe flood and landslide warnings. Train services were halted, and over a thousand flights grounded. Amid the warnings Formula 1 had cancelled its Japanese Grand Prix as well as two Rugby World Cup games scheduled were also cancelled.

Landfall: After typhoon Hagibis made landfall on Japan’s main island of Honshu, it ripped through Japan including Tokyo’s metropolitan area, caused multiple rivers to overflow, triggered landslides and power blackouts in nearly, 3,76,000 houses, more than 100 people were injured across country.

Current Status: The typhoon has now weakened to an extra-tropical cyclone off Japan’s northeastern coast, and most train services as well as most of the flights of Japan Airlines Co. and All Nippon Airways Co. resumed operations after large-scale suspensions.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2019