Life is returning to normal in Tokyo and surrounding areas after a powerful storm. Typhoon Ampil triggered blackouts and upended people’s travel plans, but services are getting back on track.
The typhoon is now moving east-northeast, away from the Pacific coast of Japan’s main island. Japan’s Meteorological Agency says the typhoon was 230 kilometers east of Choshi City in Chiba Prefecture as of 6 a.m. Saturday. It was moving east-northeast at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour.
The typhoon had a central atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals, with maximum sustained winds of 162 kilometers per hour near its center and gusts reaching 216 kilometers per hour.
Agency officials say localized rain clouds are developing mainly over the Pacific side of Tohoku. They have issued landslide alerts for some areas in Fukushima.
Strong winds have been observed mainly in the coastal Kanto region. Gusts of up to 70.2 kilometers per hour were recorded in Choshi City during a three-hour period through 6 a.m.
Tohoku may receive downpours of 40 millimeters per hour with localized lightning through Saturday evening. Strong winds are expected off the Pacific coast of the region for several hours in the morning, with maximum sustained winds of 82.8 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 126 kilometers per hour.
Authorities are warning of landslides, flooding, overflowing rivers and powerful winds.
Power company officials say most outages have been restored. The operator of Japan’s Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train says full services resumed from the first train on Saturday.
But air travel is still affected, with 68 domestic flights canceled on Saturday. Large numbers of people are expected to return home from Japan’s annual Bon holidays over the weekend.