Massive storm leaves four dead in Japan

The news videos of people using / attempting to use umbrellas was CLASSIC...even my 3 yr old son thought it defied common sense.

Sadly, old people deciding to climb up on the roof during a high wind is bizarrely predictable in this country. Every year, every typhoon we seem to get the same news. I wonder why they do it?

"They included a 96-year-old man in Iwate Prefecture who fell from the roof of a three-story house during high winds..."

Sweet lord... you would think after the 96th time of hearing about this kind of incident people would stop going on top of their rooftops during typhoons or typhoon-like storms (or snow storms)!

This was one insane storm, and in Osaka we barely even got a taste. I can't imagine what it was like in Niigata or other areas hit hard.

What about the 28 year old woman walking her dog in that storm? Crazy or what/ Probably bending down to pick up the mess and wham! Down came the tree the pooch just peed on.

A 96 year old man on the roof of a 3 storey house in that weather??! I know, we read about it all the time, but it still never ceases to amaze me.

Up here, in the northern wastelands, we are having a mega snowstorm. Because the wind is so strong, all the snow is being blown all over the trees and the whole trees trunks look white since the snow got stuck in the bark. Very beautiful to look at!

Nicky, what amazes me is that I always thought that people did silly things when they were young and got wiser. But I see old people in Japan doing things that old people would usually scold young people for doing all the time.

It's like they have an unconscious death wish.

Then again, maybe at 96 he was happy to go that way than be confined to bed for his last few years.

"news videos of people using / attempting to use umbrellas was CLASSIC".

No news about storms in Japan is complete without people struggling with umbrellas. And intrepid reporters getting knocked about.

Nicky WashidaAPR. 04, 2012 - 03:47PM JST Sad about the 96 year old, but you got to wonder really. No one in their right mind would have gone up on a roof in that, so maybe he wasn't really aware of what he was doing, or maybe he did just decide to end it all.

I doubt he just decided to end it all, but I guess we will never know for sure now.

I read that he was up on the roof inspecting it for damage. Of course, that could just be a "made up version" of what really happened, but it's probably close to the truth.

Here's what I think might have happened. He was at home, he heard a loud noise (possibly his roof being damaged) and went up to see what it was. I think the image that many of us have is that this old guy got a ladder, used that ladder to climb up to his roof (which we probably figure was pitched) and tried to go for a walk. But, it seems more likely to me that it was a building with a flat roof and he just went out a window or walked up some stairs to take a quick peak.

I will agree that was not a very wise thing to do at the time, but I can remember family members doing something similarly foolish once during a bad storm.. Loud noise which sounded like part of the roof was being ripped off so I went out for a peek. Obviously, they were not 96 but probably doing that was just as dumb.

Sometimes when you're worried about your property, you forget what's happening around you and just have to go take a peek.

Just like in horror movies. The character senses that going into that room is a really bad idea. They know that somewhere in that room something evil is lurking. Everyone in the audience is screaming "don't open the door". Yet still they open the door, go in the room and never are heard from again. Like in the movies, sometimes in real life people underestimate the real danger around them and do things that they shouldn't.

"They included a 96-year-old man in Iwate Prefecture who fell from the roof of a three-story house during high winds..." Sweet lord... you would think after the 96th time of hearing about this kind of incident people would stop going on top of their rooftops during typhoons or typhoon-like storms (or snow storms)! This was one insane storm, and in Osaka we barely even got a taste. I can't imagine what it was like in Niigata or other areas hit hard.

Indeed. I guess the old man did not hear about the news, or it caught him earlier than he expected. Still, 96 year olds shouldn't be climbing rooftops, should have gotten a younger neighbour or someone to help him with whatever needs to be done, assuming it can't be postponed in the first place. Sigh, what a waste.

And yeah, I got caught in the storm while trying to rush home when it whisked by Osaka. Trashed my umbrella, and it was only 60km/h winds.

FightBiking, I did not want to say big one, right?

I really want to know how this affected the Fukushima nuclear power plants and how / if the radiation was sent everywhere?

Maybe the old man was desperately trying to stop the wind and rain coming through a hole in the roof!

Oh, the urge to massively pull a major Smarmy Comment on that person walking their danged dog during this huge storm. The dog must have been terrified. Pooch 1, Owner 0.

This one is directed toward those who don't own a dog. If you don't have the space to let your dog roam and do its business, you gotta walk it. Are you going to just let it urinate and defecate in your home? I think not.

Are you going to just let it urinate and defecate in your home? I think not.

Teach it to use an indoor doggy toilet, saves having to go out in the middle of a typhoon and risk life and limb, also allows the dog to 'go' when its humans are out/busy and can't open the door for it.

(Having said that, my Shiba has for some reason refused to use the indoor doggy toilet for the past year: he also hates going out in the wind and rain, so during typhoons he sits with his back legs crossed until the worst of the weather is over. Obstinate.)

The dead included a 96-year-old man who fell from the roof of a three-story house during high winds

What on earth possessed a 96 year old to go on top of a roof during a typhoon like storm?!

This one is directed toward those who don't own a dog. If you don't have the space to let your dog roam and do its business, you gotta walk it. Are you going to just let it urinate and defecate in your home? I think not.

A bit of pee or poo on the balcony (or plastic sheet indoors), or letting them go just outside the front door (depending on your circumstances) versus life-risking behaviour by walking out in a major storm? Yeah, I think I would stay home and just deal with it.

Nicky WashidaAPR. 04, 2012 - 03:47PM JST Yeah, the news reports were some of the best I have ever seen here. Did anyone see the guy clinging to the lamp post in the background? Or the one where the guy was lifted off his feet? The umbrellas were the best though. I wonder if any of that is going to wind up on YouTube?

Crazy stuff.

Did you see those trailers being blown around by that tornado in Dallas? Wow.

I remember seeing images of people slipping on ice and falling flat on their backs as well as cars/trucks/buses/whatever skidding off roads during that horrible winter storm that hit parts of Europe and the US last year. That was wild. I remember a video (red light camera) of an ice covered intersection and almost every car that tried for the red light ended up slipping and sliding into something. It seemed like the cars just kept coming and coming.

Also love the people in Florida who just have to go at and look at the ocean before the hurricane hits and end up getting knocked into the ocean by high winds or high waves. Also remember seeing lots of idiots walking around with umbrellas or hanging on to poles or something trying to keep their balance while Katrina was battering New Orleans. Just crazy stuff.

Some people sure do crazy things during storms. I bet there's lots of good stuff from all over the world on YouTube.

Difficult to pick up pee from a tree...

Much talk about the dog walker.

The problem with dogs is that they have no respect for bad weather and will go out in anything. When its time for walkies... its time for walkies!

Well, I think the dog-walker takes the prize. A man going up on a roof could conceivably have been checking on something, but walking a dog in a typhoon-level storm? ????!!!!

Always the same... someone on their roof or someone out walking who gets killed by a tree... Seems some never learn from the lessons of others.

Yeah, the news reports were some of the best I have ever seen here. Did anyone see the guy clinging to the lamp post in the background? Or the one where the guy was lifted off his feet? The umbrellas were the best though. I wonder if any of that is going to wind up on YouTube?

Sad about the 96 year old, but you got to wonder really. No one in their right mind would have gone up on a roof in that, so maybe he wasn't really aware of what he was doing, or maybe he did just decide to end it all.