Japan survives close brush with Typhoon Amphil, train services resume, no major damage reported
- Japan breathed a sigh of relief as it was spared a direct hit from Typhoon Amphil and headed out into the Pacific Ocean.
A powerful typhoon that slammed the Tokyo area with heavy rains and brought mudslide warnings in northern Japan headed eastward out into the Pacific Ocean away from the coast on Saturday.
There were no reports of major damage. Tokyo and nearby areas were back to normal under sunny skies. Bullet trains that cancelled services between Tokyo and Nagoya, stranding thousands of passengers, resumed operations with the first morning train.
Some local trains were still delayed, however, and dozens of airline flights remained cancelled.
Typhoon Ampil was moving away from Japan’s eastern coast at 20kph (12mph), with sustained winds of 162kph (101mph), the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Ampil did not make landfall and reached closest to Japan after midnight.
The transport disruptions came when Japan was observing the Bon summer holidays.
Power that went out in more than 5,000 households was back, except for about 250 homes in Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures, northeast of Tokyo, according to the utility company.