Storm fades as Japan recovers

Muddy water covers a road in Gifu city, central Japan

TOKYO, Japan -- A typhoon that caused widespread evacuations in Japan and left 61 people dead in the Philippines has finally begun to dissipate.

Typhoon Halong, the second to hit Japan in a week before being downgraded to tropical storm status, was fading and heading north by late Tuesday afternoon (HKT).

The storm had forced thousands of Japanese to evacuate their homes, hundreds of schools to close and caused power blackouts and transport delays as it crept up the coastline.

The impact of the fast-moving storm, which lashed the main island of Honshu with heavy rains and high winds, was relatively short-lived, and by evening it was 300 km (186 miles) off the coast of northern Japan, some 302 km (188 miles) north of Tokyo, reuters news agency reported.

Named after a bay in northern Vietnam, the storm flooded 117 houses and seriously disrupted transportation.

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Ten international flights to and from Tokyo's international airport in Narita, including six linking it to South Korea and China, were canceled Tuesday, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said.

Heavy rains had buffetted Tokyo commuters in the morning rush hour as powerful winds bent tree branches. Television showed waves crashing along the Pacific coast of Shizuoka.

Around 40-70 mm (2-3 inches) of rain was expected in the capital as Halong, named after a scenic bay in Vietnam, swirled along the coast, heading towards Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, the official said.

Another storm looming

In Niigata prefecture, some 255 km (160 miles) northwest of Tokyo, more than 3,200 people living near rivers evacuated their homes and sought shelter in schools and local gymnasiums.

Including Niigata, some 4,000 people were evacuated in six prefectures, public television broadcaster NHK said.

Four typhoons -- Rammasun, Chata'an, Nakri and Halong -- have swept across the Pacific Ocean in the past two weeks, killing around 100 people in the region including Micronesia, the Philippines, China and the Korean peninsula.

Yet another storm, Typhoon Fengshen, which formed near the Marshall islands on Monday, was heading west-northwest packing winds of up to 144 kph (89 mph) per hour.