CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Typhoon Dianmu continued to lose strength Monday as it passed over cold water and the Japanese main islands.
U.S. military bases at Fleet Activities Sasebo and Marine Corps Station Iwakuni reported little damage as the once-powerful storm passed well to the east Monday.
“We never went beyond TCCOR 3,” said Charles Howard, public affairs officer for the Sasebo base. “We got the all clear at 0600 this morning and the small craft warning was lifted this afternoon.”
The storm, once forecast to pass within 75 miles of Sasebo, passed more than 150 miles to the east of that base, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
“As the storm started to track further away, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief,” Howard said.
It was the same story at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.
“We got some mild winds but not very much rain,” said Lance Cpl. Giovanni Lobello, a base spokesman. “We were at TCCOR 3 for a while and then dropped down to TCCOR 2 briefly.”
The storm passed some 125 miles to the southeast of the Marine air station, with sustained winds of 63 mph and gusts reaching 80 mph at the storm center.
The storm, once a super typhoon, also caused little physical damage as it passed by Okinawa over the weekend. Winds on the island never surpassed 62 mph. Only one death was reported: A 32-year-old Japanese man died while sail-boarding off Itoman.
Two persons were reported killed in Shizuoka City, about 93 miles west of Tokyo, when they were swept away by waves while attending a beach barbecue. A Tokyo man was reported missing after going fishing off Kuzu Island, about 75 miles south of Tokyo.
Typhoon Dianmu, the “Mother of Lightning” in Mandarin Chinese, was to continue to weaken as it passed over cold water and land, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. On Monday the storm was churning northeast at 25 mph and rapidly losing strength. By midday the once mighty winds were clocked at 63 mph.
More than 75 flights in southern Japan were canceled due to the storm and most ferries remained tied up at their docks, according to news reports.
