posted on Sep, 4 2013 @ 08:27 AM
9/4/2013 6:48 AM ETA tornado ripped through a two kilometer stretch of Japan's Tochigi prefecture on Wednesday, damaging houses and vehicles.Japanese
media reported that four people were injured in the tornado that slammed the prefecture, north of Tokyo, around 1:00 p.m.Fire officials in Yaita city
said the winds damaged nearly 40 houses. About 30 vehicles were knocked over and power supply to more than 500 households cut off. In the neighboring
town of Shioya, gusts damaged at least five buildings.The tornado ripped roofs off houses and shattered windows of at least a dozen buildings in
Kanuma City, about 30 kilometers from Yaita and Shioya. On Monday, a tornado that hit near Tokyo damaged hundreds of buildings and injured dozens of
people.Meanwhile, a powerful storm is moving through southwestern Japan, bringing heavy rain and strong winds.
Weather officials warned of mudslides, overflowing rivers and floods in the affected areas.Japan's Meteorological Agency said severe tropical storm
Toraji made landfall in Kagoshima prefecture early on Wednesday. It was moving northeast at around 30 kilometers per hour near Miyazaki
prefecture.Gusts of more than 54 kilometers per hour are blowing within a radius of 220 kilometers. Winds of over 100 kilometers per hour were
observed at around the time the storm hit land.Rain clouds and moist air were bringing rains over a wide area of western Japan.
More than 80 millimeters of rain per hour was observed on the island of Shikoku.Kagoshima prefecture received more than 250 millimeters of rain
between Tuesday and Wednesday, which is above average for the whole month of September. The storm is categorized as the 17th typhoon of the season in
Japan.
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