The worst of the rain fell on the southernmost island of Kyushu, where two people died, according to the fire and disaster management agency, before the typhoon was downgraded to a tropical storm as it headed toward the Pacific Ocean. One of the victims was found inside his sunken car on farmland in Miyakonojo city, and another was pulled from a landslide in Mimata. One person is missing in Hiroshima Prefecture and 115 others were injured in western Japan, the agency said. Most injuries were minor, with people falling in the rain, being hit by shards of broken glass or flying objects. Nearly six million people were still under evacuation warnings and authorities cautioned against complacency, warning that in some areas even a small amount of additional rainfall could trigger flooding and landslides. About 130,000 homes, most of them in the Kyushu region, were still without power on Tuesday morning. Many convenience stores were closed at some point and some supply lines were disrupted. Hurricane Nanmadol from space Photo: Bob Hines/NASA/AFP/Getty Images Most transport was back to normal on Tuesday, for many people the first day back to work after a three-day weekend. The bullet train and most ground transportation services resumed, but dozens of flights were grounded in northeastern Japan. The tropical storm headed into the Pacific Ocean off the northern Japanese coast, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on Tuesday. While the weather service had warned of a potentially devastating typhoon, which made landfall with gusts of up to 234 kilometers (145 miles) per hour, damage appeared relatively limited. “The typhoon has almost disappeared today and the rain and wind are also subsiding now,” said a crisis management official in the southwestern city of Saito. But local residents said they fled their homes as the storm approached, fearing the worst. “I came to the hotel to take shelter because it was windy and I thought it was dangerous,” said Yasuta Yamaguchi, a resident of Izumi in Kagoshima Prefecture. “I didn’t feel safe in my house.” Weather service officials said the storm appeared to have lost much of its intensity. “The dense cloud and eye area around the center of the typhoon has already disappeared and is weakening rapidly,” Ryuta Kurora, head of the JMA’s forecasting unit, told reporters. Japan is hit by about 20 typhoons a year, mostly in autumn, and usually experiences heavy rains that cause landslides and flash floods. Experts have warned that typhoons are traveling much slower and causing more damage across Japan in September, a trend that has been attributed to global warming. In 2019, Typhoon Hagibis hit the country while it was hosting the Rugby World Cup, killing more than 100 people and forcing the cancellation of several pool matches. A year earlier, Typhoon Jebi closed Kansai Airport in Osaka, leaving 14 dead.
