Typhoon Nr. 04

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staring at rainclouds
moving on my monitor -
typhoon approaching



The weather forecast becomes an important tool.
http://ohaga.blogspot.com/2007/07/typhoon-04.html


Raincloud service of YAHOO
http://weather.yahoo.co.jp/weather/raincloud/33/index.html







......................................... Friday 13, Morning


typhoon warning -
the dragon huddles
all over Japan







Red Alert for Tropical Cyclone Category 4 MAN-YI

Tropical Cyclone MAN-YI has made landfall on the coast of Japan around 2007/07/13 0:00 UTC

At the last observation, on 2007/07/13 0:00 UTC, tropical cyclone MAN-YI is a Tropical Cyclone Category 4 with maximum sustained wind speeds of 64 m/s (231 km/h, 125 knots). Within 100km of its eye there are 1.1 million people. Within 200km there are 1.1 million people.

The storm is currently situated near Okinawa in Japan (a province with a population of 1.2 million).

Current maximum sustained wind speed: 64 m/s
Current Maximum Speed of Wind Gusts: 77 m/s

© Global Disaster Alert


This typhoon is the strongest and largest in July, since weather recording started in Japan. Its diameter is more than 1000 kilometers.
A lot of damage has been done to Okinawa, where it just passed.
(Friday evening, 18:00)


Forecast for Saturday
. . . . . Forecast for Saturday, July 14



Look at my HAIGA for the red alert !


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PHOTO Forecast of the ©　Japan Meteorological Agency




supertyphoon -
the fiery tounge
of this dragon


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Quote ©　YAHOO NEWS Fri Jul 13

Powerful typhoon hits southern Japan
By CHISAKI WATANABE

A powerful typhoon pounded Japan's southern Okinawa island chain Friday, cutting power to tens of thousands of households and grounding flights with winds up to 100 mph, officials said.

Typhoon Man-Yi has injured 27 people, the Okinawa state government said, many of them knocked to the ground by gusts of wind.

Wind speeds were clocked at up to 100 mph as the storm passed Naha, the regional capital, the Meteorological Agency said.

Public broadcaster NHK showed footage of a steel structure at a golf driving range in central Okinawa knocked to the ground and a parked delivery truck turned on its side.

The typhoon is moving north at 18.6 mph and is forecast to hit the southern main island of Kyushu on Saturday, the agency said. It is expected to then rake Japan's Pacific coast toward Tokyo.

Nearly 98,000 of Okinawa's households, about one-sixth of its total, were without power, it said.

"It is raining hard and the wind is very strong. It looks all white outside," Tomoko Sunagawa, an official of Okinawa Electric Power Co. said by phone from Naha.

Airlines canceled hundreds of flights, mainly those flying between Okinawa and Kyushu.

Heavy rain pouring at a rate of more than 2 inches an hour inundated Kyushu Friday morning, the Meteorological Agency said, with up to 20 inches expected by Saturday.

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......................................... Saturday 14


noisy night <>
falling rain sounds like
pounding the drums

Answering to a haiku of Bob


.. .. .. .. .. inbetween the storm rounds



typhoon -
the voices of birds
between downpoors


typhoon break -
a butterfly visits
the broken lily


typhoon break -
two bumblebees busy
between broken weeds



endless rain -
the moss grows faster
on every stone

in the most amazing patterns and shapes


......................................... Sunday 15

after a medium-noisy night with not much rain, woke up to the most spectaular sunshine on the freshly washed green forest ! Clouds still racing above us ...


typhoon over -
I feel safe again
in my husband's arms



　© Japan Times of this morning :

The season's fourth typhoon was expected to continue to lash the Japanese archipelago, traveling along the southern coast of Honshu through the Kanto region over the long weekend, according to the Meteorological Agency, which warned of heavy rains, floods and strong winds.

The typhoon made landfall on the Osumi Peninsula in Kagoshima Prefecture around 2 p.m. after hitting Okinawa Prefecture and part of the Amami island group the day before, the agency said. Okinawa came out of the typhoon's heavy storm zone after 20 hours, it said.

The agency recorded an atmospheric pressure of 945 hectopascals near the center of the storm when it struck the peninsula, making it the most powerful typhoon to hit Japan in the month of July since the agency began compiling statistics in 1951.

Landslide warnings were issued for southern Kyushu.

Keita Kamimura, an 11-year-old boy, died after trying to retrieve a ball from a river in the city of Kagoshima and was washed away. His body was found two hours later.

A 76-year-old man died after falling into an irrigation ditch in Kimotsuki, Kagoshima Prefecture.

In Yoshinogawa, Tokushima Prefecture, a 79-year-old man was reported missing, while another man in Nagoya also went missing after being swept away in a river.

Most of the injuries were caused by the typhoon's strong winds, according to local police.

A 60-year-old man fell and broke his hip while trying to reinforce his roof in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture. In Kitakyushu, an 80-year-old woman fell in the morning and broke her right leg.

As of 8 p.m., nearly 20,000 people from about 8,500 households in seven prefectures had been ordered or advised to evacuate, officials said. Many people in other areas also evacuated voluntarily.

Power blackouts continued for about 34,000 households in Kagoshima, mainly in the Amami region, and in Miyazaki, according to Kyushu Electric Power Co.

JR Kyushu Railway Co. said all of its services, including bullet trains, were suspended in Kagoshima and Miyazaki.

A landslide continued to block traffic on the Higashikyushu Expressway between the Miyazaki-Nishi and Saito interchanges in Kyushu. The Miyazaki Expressway was also closed.

All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and other airlines said they canceled more than 643 flights Saturday, mainly those departing or arriving at airports in Kyushu, Shikoku and Okinawa, affecting more than 58,000 passengers.

The storm forced candidates in Kyushu running in the July 29 House of Councilors election to change their schedules, including canceling street speeches and switching to telephone canvassing, on the first weekend of the campaign that officially began Thursday.

The typhoon was forecast to come to within a radius of 310 km east of the Kanto region by 9 a.m. Monday.
In Miyazaki Prefecture, total rainfall topped 500 millimeters in some areas, hitting record local highs for July.

Up to 450 mm of rainfall was projected to fall in the Tokai region in central Japan over the 24 hours to Sunday evening, while 400 mm of rainfall was expected in the southern part of the Kinki region and on the Pacific side of Shikoku, according to the agency.


......................................... Monday 16


sweeping debris -
a white butterfly hovers
above my broom


Just as I wrote this, there is news on TV about a strong earthquake in Niigata !

quote:
Earthquake Strikes Central Japan Near Niigata Area

By Mariko Yasu and Drew Gibson

July 16 (Bloomberg) --
An earthquake struck north-central Japan near Niigata, toppling houses, causing a fire at a nuclear power plant and suspending bullet train operations. Dozens of people were injured, reports said.

The magnitude 6.8 quake was centered on the Japan Sea coast, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on its Web site. A tsunami advisory issued earlier by the agency was lifted. The quake's epicenter was about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Tokyo, where buildings swayed for several minutes.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said three reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata were automatically shut as a result of the earthquake. A transformer caught fire, said Kiyoto Ishikawa, a Tokyo Electric spokesman.

``The situation is not serious enough to cause a radioactive leak,'' he said. ``But we haven't confirmed the fire has been extinguished yet.''

A fourth reactor at the nuclear plant was not operational at the time of the quake, Tokyo Electric said.

East Japan Railway Co., the country's largest train operator, halted part of its Shinkansen bullet train services, said Takahiro Kikuchi, the company's spokesman. Services on Joetsu Shinkansen lines were suspended from 10:13 a.m. Japanese time, immediately after the quake struck. The Tohoku and Nagano Shinkansen lines have resumed services.

Dozens of injuries were reported after buildings in Kashiwazaki, a town in Niigata prefecture, were toppled by the quake, Kyodo News said. Many offices in Japan are shut today for Marine Day, a national holiday.

　© www.bloomberg.com July 15, 2007


OFF JO-CHUETSU NIIGATA PREF
JMA Seismic Intensity: 6+
More
JMA Earthquake UPDATES They change with time.


........................ Monday Afternoon


Back to the torrential rains, this time JSUT the rainy season ... but for me, it makes no difference...

got to LOG OFF, too much thunder in the air now


what a drag ...
too much rain
for my buckets



........................ Tuesday Morning

　© Japan Times

Powerful earthquake slams Niigata
Seven dead and more than 830 injured
Compiled from Kyodo, AP

A severe earthquake wreaked havoc on a wide portion of Niigata Prefecture and surrounding areas Monday morning, killing seven people, injuring more than 830 and destroying 500 houses.

The Meteorological Agency said the quake had a magnitude of 6.8 and registered a rare upper 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale, which tops out at 7.

"The quake was so fierce, I felt I couldn't stand up," said a woman who operates a Japanese-style inn in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture. She said her home was a mess, with broken plates and an overturned television.

The quake struck at 10:13 a.m., destroying hundreds of houses in Kashiwazaki, firefighters said. Most were older structures made of wood.

"I was so scared — the violent shaking went on for 20 seconds," Lawson convenience store clerk Ritei Wakatsuki said by phone from Kashiwazaki. "I almost fainted from the fear of the shaking."

"There was a sharp horizontal shaking lasting dozens of seconds," gas station employee Hiroki Takahashi told NHK in Kashiwazaki. "I could hardly stand up."

The seven deceased were identified as Etsuko Nakamura, 81, Noriko Nakamura, 78, Sansaku Takahashi, 83, Toshio Tobita, 82, Katsuichi Shimojo, 76, and his wife, Yasuko, 72, all of Kashiwazaki, and Kiyo Igarashi, 79, of Kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, local police said.

Flames and black smoke were seen pouring from the No. 3 reactor at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, which shut down automatically during the quake.

The fire, caused by an electrical transformer, was later extinguished.

Although Tepco initially said no radioactivity was released, it later said an unspecified amount of water containing radioactive material leaked. No further details were immediately available.

In Kashiwazaki, about 200 people escaped disaster when the ceiling of a gymnasium collapsed during a badminton tournament, leaving one person with a slight facial injury.

Niigata Gov. Hirohiko Izumi asked the central government to send Ground Self-Defense Force troops to help with rescue and recovery efforts in the area.

A total of 10,000 people were evacuated by late Monday night in Kashiwazaki and other towns in Niigata Prefecture, local officials said.

The quake, which also was felt in Tokyo, was followed by a 4.2-magnitude quake at 10:34 a.m.

The quake had an intensity of upper 6 in Kashiwazaki and Kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, and in Iizuna, Nagano Prefecture. It registered lower 6 in Joetsu and Nagaoka in Niigata, and upper 5 in Iiyama in Nagano. Its focus was about 17 km under the seabed off Niigata Prefecture, the Meteorological Agency said.

A tsunami warning was issued for parts of Sado Island and other coastal areas after the quake but was lifted about an hour later.

The powerful quake caused transportation to grind to a halt and several blackouts were reported.

Tepco said the No. 3 reactor along with three other reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant were shut down.

The Tohoku, Joetsu and Nagano shinkansen lines were halted following the quake but had resumed operations by evening, East Japan Railway Co. said.

A local train car was knocked off the rails while stopped at JR Kashiwazaki Station, but no one was hurt.
Expressways were shut down for safety checks after landslides hit several roads in Niigata Prefecture.
Niigata Airport, which suspended flights shortly after the quake, resumed services after finding no damage.

Water and gas were cut off in Kashiwazaki, and about 35,000 households in Niigata Prefecture and 21,000 in Nagano Prefecture were without power at one point.

Aftershocks continued to rattle the area, including one that came in at lower 6 on the intensity scale. Koichi Uhira of the Meteorological Agency warned that aftershocks could continue for as long as a week.

In October 2004, Niigata was hit by a magnitude-6.8 earthquake that killed 40 people and damaged more than 6,000 homes. It was the deadliest to hit Japan since 1995.

.. .. ..


power mongers ...
the earthquakes strike
anyway


Read the comment below:
Quake-hit atomic plant sits atop a fault line !

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Typhoon News Updates from the Media
they change over time ...




Some of my Typhoon Haiku from the past years ...


Read my Haiku Archives 2007


some comments

Comments from some friends !

Thanks for sharing this glimpse of nature.

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Very moving Gabi.

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glad to hear the danger is past.

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Yes, it is a wonderful thing to feel safe in someone's arms. I am happy for you.
Your haiku spoke to me, Gabi.

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This is such a lovely ku, Gabi...
I'm glad the worry is over!

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Unfortunately, even love doesn't keep us safe sometimes. It's good to know that the typhoon danger is over for you, Gabi.

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A touching moment, Gabi...nicely expressed!
be safe,

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good that the typhoon is over, Gabi!
but i just read about an earthquake in the Northwest of Japan!

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Yes, Gabi...
I've been worrying about the earthquake too....
I hope you're okay!

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Wow!
What a web, Gabi... an amazing little spider!


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Comments from some HAIGA friends !



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