7 die, nearly 100 hurt as powerful typhoon batters wide area of Japan

dont drive cars or boats in typhoons people.... i do feel for the others though

Dango bong: The boating incident seems odd, but it's easier said than done to suggest the drivers were at fault for driving when they were. We don't know why they were driving; river could have broken and they got suddenly swept away and cars submerged. Maybe they were trying to get home, or trying to escape. It's not like they climbed on their hooves during the typhoon or anything.

I tend not to go out in typhoons ever since an awning came off a 10 storey building,sliced through the air and landed behind me....,

Maybe they felt they HAD to go out... to work, possibly, or somewhere safer?

My brother was leaving from Kansai airport on Monday morning. He tried to take a train (from Kyoto) but train service was suspected. He took a bus, although the driver warned that they might not be allowed to use the bridge to the airport.

They did make it, and he had already made a reservation at the capsule hotel at the airport (which was thronged by people who were stranded at the airport and looking for a place to stay), so he had a good night's sleep.

I'm guessing that on his flight, which left on schedule, he was probably one of the only passengers!

Oops, I meant to say "suspended", not "suspected".

Hello, So sorry to hear about the storm's affect on Japan. Here in FL, we know the reality of typhoons/hurricanes all to well. Question for anyone in Osaka. I have 2 female friends who are supposed to fly from Taiwan to Osaka on Wednesday for a few days of vacation in your beautiful city. Can you please tell me how the typhoon has affected Osaka? Perhaps they should postpone their trip to another time?

This is the new normal. So much of populated Japan is at sea level or, worse yet, on "reclaimed" land that either liquefies in an earthquake or will be degraded by increasing sea levels. I expect New Kansai Airport to be unuseable in a decade. This is probably the case as well for Centair, Kitakyushu and Kobe.