ONE OF the most powerful storms to hit Tokyo in years brought back bitter memories of Japan’s March disaster last night, cutting off public transport and stranding hundreds of thousands of people in the world’s most populous metropolis.
Typhoon Roke barrelled into the capital during evening rush hour, packing gusts of more than 200km/h (124mph).
The storm forced hundreds of companies to send workers home early, resulted in the cancellation of 450 flights and stopped some bullet train services. Commuters across the city faced a long night as they waited for suspended trains to restart.
“It’s just one thing after another,” said Takeshi Goto, a businessman sheltering in the world’s busiest station, Shinjuku, in central Tokyo. “It’s like March 11th all over again. I just want to get home, but I guess so does everyone else.”
Roke killed at least five people, left 89,000 homes without power and triggered evacuation advisories in more than a million homes west of the capital before moving up the coast, according to state broadcaster NHK.
Last night the typhoon was weakening but was headed straight for the tsunami-battered northeast coast, where engineers at the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex were working frantically to prevent radioactive leaks.
Weather officials say more than 200mm of rain could fall on Fukushima Prefecture, threatening to flood already overloaded facilities at the plant, which was disabled by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. Workers last night were racing against time to cover the reactors with sheets against the rain.
“The biggest element of concern is the rise of [radioactive] water levels in turbine buildings,” said Junichi Matsumoto, an official with operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco).
“We expect to be able to withstand [an overflow] even if water levels rise suddenly.”
Tepco has been injecting water into the plant’s three crippled reactors in a bid to bring down the temperature of its melted nuclear fuel.
The operation has left more than 100 million litres of radioactive water on site in basements and trenches.
Tepco says it has been decontaminating the plant since July, but some observers fear more toxic water may be leaking into the ground and sea.