Vehicles make their way along slick roads at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. U.S. bases experienced heavy rains due to Tropical Storm Etau, which caused floods and mudslides elsewhere in Japan. (Tyler Hlavac/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Tropical Storm Etau struck Japan’s Honshu mainland Wednesday, causing landslides in the west and drenching U.S. military bases near Tokyo.
At least six injuries were blamed on the storm, Japan broadcaster NHK reported. News footage showed a crumbled cliff in Mie Prefecture, about 300 miles west of Tokyo, with downed power lines and cars strewn around a muddy embankment. Prefectural officials ordered the evacuation of 10,000 people after issuing landslide warnings.
Japanese officials also announced evacuation preparation advisories due to potential landslides Wednesday afternoon in Tokyo’s Minato ward, which includes the U.S. Army’s Hardy Barracks and the Navy’s New Sanno Hotel.
The Japan Meteorological Agency estimated early Wednesday the storm could bring as much as 20 inches of rain in some parts of Japan by the time it passes over Honshu and into the Sea of Japan.
At 8 a.m., the military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported Etau’s sustained winds at 58 mph, with 75 mph gusts. The storm’s eye reached the Japanese mainland near Aichi Prefecture, about 180 miles from Tokyo, just after 10 a.m., according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
Although the winds were slow compared with recent typhoons in the region, it had already been raining heavily for days across central Honshu, according to The Weather Channel. The storm combined with a separate stalled front to create flash floods in several parts of the region.
Etau brought waves of rain to most Tokyo-area bases but left no apparent damage beyond downed tree branches. At Yokosuka Naval Base, some college classes and other non-military activities were canceled. At Yokota Air Base, commander Col. Douglas DeLaMater issued an order allowing unit commanders to dismiss civilian workers beginning at 2 p.m.
Commuters in Tokyo, Nagoya and some of Japan’s most populous areas faced extended rush-hour delays because of various train line service interruptions, according to Japan Rail’s websites. About two dozen flights were canceled at Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair International Airport, NHK reported.
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