Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up TOKYO, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Typhoon Nanmadol, one of the biggest storms to hit Japan in years, killed at least two people and brought fierce winds and record rainfall to the west of the country on Monday, causing transport disruptions and forcing manufacturers to suspend operations. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delayed his departure to New York for the UN General Assembly this week to assess the damage from Japan’s 14th typhoon of the season. “I have postponed my planned departure from today to take stock of the damage caused by the typhoon and take all possible measures to recover,” Kishida told reporters on Monday evening, adding that he would leave on Tuesday morning if conditions permit. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Nanmadol made landfall near the city of Kagoshima late Sunday before hitting the western island of Kyushu and roaring into the main island of Honshu on Monday morning. A river in Kyushu’s Miyazaki prefecture overflowed, flooding fields and roads, according to video from public broadcaster NHK. Other video showed a riverside house hanging half over a torrent, the tin roof ripped off a gas station and a toppled billboard leaning over a road from the top of a building. “We must remain on high alert for heavy rainfall, gale-force winds, high waves and thunderstorms,” a Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) official told a news conference. Local media reported that one man was found dead in his car, which sank up to its roof in the middle of a field, while another man died after being caught in a landslide. Another person is still missing and at least 115 people have been injured, NHK reported. About 286,000 households were without power Monday afternoon, down from about 340,000 earlier in the day, according to the Commerce Department. Kyushu Railway Co ( 9142.T ) said it suspended both high-speed and regular train operations, while Japan Airline Co Ltd ( 9201.T ) and ANA Holdings ( 9202.T ) canceled about 800 flights, NHK reported. The storm made landfall again in Shimane province in western Honshu after tracking the coastline earlier on Monday, and was heading east at about 35 km per hour (22 mph), JMA said. Up to 300 mm (11.8 inches) of rain was expected in central Japan’s Tokai region, the country’s industrial heartland, in the 24 hours to Tuesday afternoon, it said. Toyota Motor Corp ( 7203.T ) suspended night shifts on 24 lines at 12 of its domestic plants on Monday, a company spokesman said, adding that the company plans to make up for lost production with overtime and holiday work. Intermittent heavy rains lashed Tokyo, but businesses in the capital were largely operating as normal. Most schools were closed on Monday anyway due to the holiday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Kevin Buckland. Additional reporting by Kentaro Sugiyama, Sam Nussey, Maki Shiraki and Ritsuko Shimizu. Edited by Robert Birsel, Christian Schmollinger and Ed Osmond Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
