2 dead, 5 missing as typhoon slams into western Japan

At least no reports yet of old guys being killed whilst repairing their roof, trimming their tree, or fixing their fishing boat.

That's progress....

I loved the oatmeal comic....I've long said that the more I prepare, the further away the typhoon veers!

I'm at the top of a mountain, opposite Suzurandai, it's windy here just because we're this high, I'd suppose. The cast iron chairs on the front porch were rolling around, I forgot to take them in, and the trellis supporting my climbing roses has fallen over.

Yesterday at 9:30 when I went to the dentist in Kato-shi, it was pouring up here, but no rain after passing through Yokawa. By the time I was done and was heading home, it was raining a lot in Kato, but not so much in Kobe.

Right now it's absolutely p*ssing down rain and the wind is making the rain spray up when it hits the roofs. Kind of typhoon-y...oh well it will all be over soon enough. I hope the areas below us, and Minatogawa, don't flood.

"A few swollen rivers and no doubt someone died a very preventable death. "

Because we all know that being crushed to death when a rain-soaked hill slides down on your home is thoroughly preventable.

Feeling a bit myopic, are we?

My tomato plants got knocked too. I fixed them with a string. We only have 16kts up here though but the forecast predicts stronger winds. Better safe than no tomatoes.

My elderly mother-in-law lives in an area that took a direct hit. We called to check on her and she said her street was flooded. I was muttering to my wife, "whatever you do, don't ask her about the river. She'll go and have a look. Then we'll hear about her on the news." Every time there's a typhoon, somebody has to go check on the rice field, as if anything could be done at that point, or even more useless, have a look at the river. Of course, my wife had to ask about the river. But fortunately granny has thus far stayed put.

Indeed - a few years ago a septuagenarian in East Tokyo was killed delivering newspapers. In a typhoon. Next to a river. On a motorbike. In the dark. RIP, but a bit of common sense wouldn't go amiss.

You almost never hear something like this in Okinawa. Not that it could not or has never happened.

Umm, while deaths are uncommon injuries from typhoons are not just a mainland problem. Mike I think you may have missed Typhoon Muifa which hit the island in late July, 37 people were injured from that typhoon alone.

Okinawa is better equipped to handle typhoons due to the overwhelming majority of the buildings being constructed out of steel reinforced concrete, AND has less landslides, I wrote less not zero because they occur here often as well, because of the soil make-up and the overall structure of the island itself. Water runs off without causing as much damage.

People in mainland, to me anyway, due to less experience with typhoons tend not to respect the potential for damage than people from Okinawa.

Hope nobody else is missing. Nature at it's extreme. We have to respect it.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/weather

i think this is what you are getting at hoserfella.

If I didn't have the Internet I wouldnt even know it was a tyhpoon when I am, scant rain and a bit of wind. Guess I am lucky, seems some people were not.

I hope those missing were able to take refuge somawhere and are found safe. To the familes and friends of those who lost their lives ,my condolenceis

The body of a woman believed to be in her 30s was recovered from a swelling river in Tokushima.

Why? Why do people think that during a big storm of any kind, it's a good idea to be near a river, lake, ocean or any other fast moving water? Every damn time there is a typhoon, someone in the Mainland dies doing stupid crap.

If not drowning, then old Mr. Taro just had to go out and cover his tomato plants and gets hit in the head with flying sheet metal that the neighbor had stacked against the house.

You almost never hear something like this in Okinawa. Not that it could not or has never happened.

It wasn't that bad in my part of Western Japan-Kobe City.

It hasn't 'got here' yet....I can't believe how slow this one is. It's supposed to be directly over this area (Kinki) at 6 pm tonight, if it doesn't speed up. I'm in Kita-ku, it's been raining for about 10 hours now, sometimes coming down in sheets.

We're in the red boufu zone now, but the center isn't to the Seto Naikai yet.

NHK says it's still moving into the Seto inland sea. How confusing.

I just got a message from DoCoMo that a new oame kouzui keihou has been issued for Hyogo Ken and the whole Hanshin area.

It did not 'slam' it slowly swamped. AFP needs to understand the language it uses often exposes it as, well, not too bright.

I am in Aichi and I was able to get back home from work without an umbrella. It was raining on and off today. It's been windy and cloudy. Since yesterday, rain starts to fall all of a sudden with strong wind. And then it stops. Take care, you guys. Sign board and stuff might be blown off.

Typhoon Talas? What happened to typhoon #12?

How's Osaka and Kyoto, I am planning to visit these two cities on coming Thursday. Should i cancel my trip?

Asim: It will be all over by tomorrow, next Thursday will be fine. Have a good trip.

SerranoSEP. 03, 2011 - 09:39PM JST Typhoon Talas? What happened to typhoon #12?

Depending on the tracking site's counting method, I've seen tropical storm Talas numbered 12, 14 and 15W....Numbers alone are therefore confusing when there are several storms in the area at the same time, whereas all sites seem to agree on the name.....Confusion could be dangerous for international transport......

It would be nice to label them the Japanese way (with #s) in addition to the name names since this site is aimed at those of us who live here in Japan. I tend to use the # names when talking about typhoons. Even to non-Japanese.

What cities did the typhoon hit ?

STILL pouring in Kita-ku, Kobe. I cleaned the house and baked bread yesterday, going to work on a video project today. It's awful out, I'm not budging!

I hope they find the people caught in last night's landslide.

Patrick, it was a typhoon when out over the ocean. They continue to call it by it's original name, but they say each time that it's been downgraded.

hoserfellaSep. 04, 2011 - 10:08AM Absolutely right. It IS preventable for those with common sense to anticipate landslides at the base of a mountain after a lot of rain.

just try to imagine how the situation would be if more than1,000 mm of rain fell in your native town in a span of two days

plenty of worrisome warnings from NHK, JT, JT readers...but weather is not that bad...slow and mild typhooooo!

A surfer also died yesterday in Kanagawa. What an idiot. I swim well, but not good enough on a long board to handle this junk. In Florida we called waves like this junk. I need to ask some people what they call this mess in Japanese. I speak it but not sure of this vocabulary as I stay to myself at the ocean. Any other surfers here on JT? Would love to hear about your surf. West Palm Beach is very pretty but the waves are nothing special.

Because we all know that being crushed to death when a rain-soaked hill slides down on your home is thoroughly preventable.

Absolutely right. It IS preventable for those with common sense to anticipate landslides at the base of a mountain after a lot of rain.

Much ado about nothing as usual. A few swollen rivers and no doubt someone died a very preventable death. Yet somehow the typhoon is described by hack writers as having "slammed" into the country instead of lazily meandered through. And the usual posters warn everyone to prepare for Armageddon when the only threat to those with common sense is forgetting your umbrella at home.