Japan typhoon: 'dozens of houses have been washed away'
Typhoon Wipha has caused widespread damage along Japan's Pacific coast and lead to multiple fatalities, says Julian Ryall in Tokyo.
A typhoon killed 17 people in Japan on Wednesday, most on an offshore island, and more than 50 people were missing after the "once in a decade" Typhoon Wipha roared up Japan's east coast.
About 20,000 people were told to leave their homes because of the danger of flooding while hundreds of flights were cancelled.
Sixteen people were killed on Izu Oshima island, about 75 miles south of Tokyo, as rivers burst their banks. The storm set off mudslides along a 1.2 mile stretch of mountains.
"Dozens of houses were washed away when mountain sides just collapsed on them," the Telegraph's Julian Ryall in Tokyo said.
Television footage showed roads clogged with wreckage and houses with gaping holes smashed into them.
The storm brought hurricane-force winds and drenching rain to the Tokyo metropolitan area of 30 million people at the peak of the morning rush hour.
"This was the largest typhoon that has hit Japan for a decade," Julian Ryall said.
"This has been a bad year for typhoons in Japan. It's been a hot summer in this part of the world and experts say that this has spawned a record number of typhoons."
A typhoon killed 17 people in Japan on Wednesday, most on an offshore island, and more than 50 people were missing after the "once in a decade" Typhoon Wipha roared up Japan's east coast.
About 20,000 people were told to leave their homes because of the danger of flooding while hundreds of flights were cancelled.
Sixteen people were killed on Izu Oshima island, about 75 miles south of Tokyo, as rivers burst their banks. The storm set off mudslides along a 1.2 mile stretch of mountains.
"Dozens of houses were washed away when mountain sides just collapsed on them," the Telegraph's Julian Ryall in Tokyo said.
Television footage showed roads clogged with wreckage and houses with gaping holes smashed into them.
The storm brought hurricane-force winds and drenching rain to the Tokyo metropolitan area of 30 million people at the peak of the morning rush hour.
"This was the largest typhoon that has hit Japan for a decade," Julian Ryall said.
"This has been a bad year for typhoons in Japan. It's been a hot summer in this part of the world and experts say that this has spawned a record number of typhoons."
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