Typhoon Nanmadol brought ferocious winds and record rainfall to western Japan on Monday as one of the biggest storms to hit the country in years killed at least two people, disrupted transport and forced manufacturers to suspend operations.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delayed his departure to New York, where he is supposed to deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly.
“I postponed my scheduled departure from today to take stock of the damage caused by the typhoon and to take all possible measures for recovery,” Kishida said on Monday.
“Circumstances permitting, I will leave tomorrow morning.”
Japan’s 14th typhoon of the season made landfall near Kagoshima city late on Sunday before battering the western island of Kyushu and roaring onto the main island of Honshu on Monday morning.
A river in Kyushu’s Miyazaki prefecture overflowed, flooding fields and roads, footage from state broadcaster NHK showed.
Another video showed a riverside house half hanging over a torrent, the tin roof ripped off a petrol station, and a toppled billboard leaning over a street from the top of a building.
“We need to remain highly vigilant for heavy rains, gales, high waves and storm surges,” a Japan Meteorological Agency official said.