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Killer Typhoon Floods Japanese Communities
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(http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=EE3CB3:3919ACA

At least 23 dead or missing, nearly 100 injured





Man tries to avoid splashing water from sea which floods road as
powerful typhoon approaches Naze, Amami Oshima Island in southern
JapanWhile the United States continues to deal with the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina, Japan is now seeing the effects of a very powerful
typhoon. After causing devastation in the southern and western part of
the country, Typhoon Nabi is heading north in the sea between Japan
and Korea. Nabi has left at least 23 people dead or missing and nearly
100 injured.

Nabi, packing winds of up to 126 kilometers an hour, is the third
typhoon to hit mainland Japan this year.

Meteorologist Masaru Kida at private forecasting company Weathernews
says Nabi is extraordinary in that it dumped a record amount of
rainfall on some parts of southern Japan, especially on the island of
Kyushu.

Mr. Kida says the storm, equivalent to a category three or four
hurricane, has dumped more than a meter of rain in some communities in
Kyushu since Sunday, equivalent to nearly half of their average annual
rainfall.

Flooding and landslides prompted officials to issue evacuation orders
for some 350,000 people.

Electricity was knocked out to more than 100,000 homes and businesses.

Some 1500 members of Japan's Self Defense Forces have been deployed to
fortify coastal areas and help rescue storm victims.

The typhoon on Monday and Tuesday paralyzed transportation in many
areas of the country. The storm also disrupted production at many
factories.

Two automobile manufacturers, Mazda and Mitsubishi, say they were
forced to suspend operations at their plants in the Hiroshima area
Tuesday.

Typhoon Nabi - the name means butterfly in Korean - also caused misery
in South Korea. Two people are reported missing there. More than 2,000
police officers and firefighters have been dispatched in the hard-hit
city of Ulsan to help with recovery efforts. The storm dumped more
than 600 millimeters of rain on the city, triggering landslides.

Forecasters warn that while Nabi has weakened, its winds are still
powerful and could cause further damage late Wednesday and early
Thursday in Japan's northern Hokkaido island. The U.S. Department of
Defense typhoon tracking service projected it would hit Hokkaido and
possibly brush near Russia's Sakhalin island late Wednesday.