Well,
the sun is shining again.

That was the worst night ever, with a blackout after many poles fell
down by the strong storm.
Roads blocked by landslides and fallen trees, some got stuck in the
mountains, we will not even try to get out by car...

Here is some news from the Japan Times of this morning, where just
half of the damage is featured, since it is still hanging on in the
north:

Typhoon kills 21, leaves trail of havoc

At least 21 people were dead Wednesday as massive Typhoon Tokage
churned north across the Japanese archipelago after hitting Kochi
Prefecture.

The typhoon made landfall near Tosashimizu, Kochi Prefecture, around
1 p.m. and advanced through the main island of Honshu later in the
day, leaving at least 25 missing and some 200 injured, the
Meteorological Agency said.

The season's 23rd typhoon became the record 10th to make landfall on
the archipelago in one season.

Many areas nationwide were swamped by downpours and strong winds due
to Tokage, which means lizard and is the Japanese name for the
Lacerta constellation. October rainfall in Tokyo topped 570 mm,
rewriting the monthly record set in 1945.

A 31-year-old man was found dead after driving into a river in the
city of Miyazaki. Two men separately fixing their roofs in Nagasaki
and Ehime prefectures fell to their deaths.

In Tosashimizu, one of five fishermen who were washed away by waves
while moving their boats was later found dead. In Muroto, Kochi
Prefecture, an elderly couple and a man died when their houses were
demolished by high waves, according to local authorities.

The torrential rains also triggered landslides around the country.

A 24-year-old woman in Ehime Prefecture suffocated after her house
was buried in a landslide around midday.

A man who fell into a flooded canal in Miyazaki Prefecture was found
dead, as was a newspaper delivery man in Oita Prefecture who
apparently fell into a river.

Among the missing were two fishermen who were washed away by high
waves in Chiba Prefecture.

Under strong winds, the 4,883-ton Bahamian-flagged containership OOCL
SETO ran aground on Kakeroma Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, early
Wednesday. No injuries were reported among the 16 Filipino crew
members, according to the Japan Coast Guard.

It said the vessel was pulled to safety in the afternoon and plans to
continue on to its destination of Hong Kong as early as Thursday.

The 9,900-ton Japanese freighter Shuri meanwhile became stranded
around 5 a.m. on Uma Island in the Seto Inland Sea off Imabari, Ehime
Prefecture. None of the 12 crew was injured.

The typhoon also wreaked havoc with air and land transportation.

A total of 874 domestic flights had been canceled as of 6 p.m.,
affecting about 103,000 passengers in what could be the largest
number of cancellations in a single day this year due to a typhoon.

On the Tokaido Shinkansen Line linking Tokyo and Osaka, all bullet
train services were halted at 3:47 p.m. due to heavy rain, operator
East Japan Railway Co. said. The trains resumed operations at 7:10
p.m.

Thirty-eight bullet train runs were canceled and 15 other train
services were delayed on the Sanyo Shinkansen Line as of noon,
affecting about 27,000 people, operators said. Some trains on the
Kyushu Shinkansen Line were also canceled.

Utilities firms said that some 110,000 homes in the Kinki, Chugoku
and Shikoku regions temporarily lost power due to the typhoon.

The Hyogo Prefectural Government issued a request in the afternoon
for the Ground Self-Defense Force to be dispatched to provide
emergency disaster assistance in the city of Sumoto, located on Awaji
Island in the Seto Inland Sea.

The Sumoto River, which runs through the city, threatened to
overflow, prefectural officials said. Some 100 troops responded to
the call.

Obama in Fukui Prefecture also issued an evacuation order to some
11,000 households because many rivers in the city were feared to
flood.

The Japan Times: Oct. 21, 2004

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20041021a1.htm

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Too tired to write a haiku !
Gabi san