Advertisement

Typhoon 08W (Kompasu) # 17, Okinawa aftermath

6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 1: Well, there is a silver lining to the cloud that was Typhoon Kompasu's visit to Okinawa -- All 10 of the island's reservoirs have firewalled at 100 percent of capacity. That's the first time that's happened since after Typhoon Man-yi in 2007. Credit 2.78 inches of rainfall in Naha and 4.96 inches in Motobu for that.

But that came with a price, largely for Okuma recreation area, which will be closed for a week, Air Force officials said. Okuma was right in the storm's path, with 54-mph winds uprooting large trees and a lifeguard shack. No penalties will be assessed for canceled reservations, officials said. For more, click here.

Some 17,200 homes lost power during the storm, mostly to the north. Five people were injured and 59 people from 30 familes were forced to evacuate from homes in Kin, Okinawa City, Nago, Ginowan, Yomitan, Motobu and Nakijin and on outer islands north of Okinawa's main island. Roofs were damaged on homes in Kunigami, Nago, Motobu and Yomitan.

All told, 432 flights serving Okinawa's Naha International Airport by Japan Air Lines, Japan Transocean Air, All-Nippon Airways, Ryukyu Air Commuter and Sky Mark were canceled, stranding or affecting 57,126 passengers outbound and inbound.

Advertisement

Due to a switchover to a new comment system, this comment board is now closed.

 
Advertisement

 

Stay safe and informed

 

About the Author


Dave Ornauer has been with Stars and Stripes since March 5, 1981. One of his first assignments as a beat reporter in the old Japan News Bureau was “typhoon chaser,” a task which he resumed virtually full time since 2004, the year after his job, as a sports writer-photographer, moved to Okinawa and Ornauer with it.

As a typhoon reporter, Ornauer pores over Web sites managed by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center as well as U.S. government, military and local weather outlets for timely, topical information. Pacific Storm Tracker is designed to take the technical lingo published on those sites and simplify it for the average Stripes reader.