Society

Tokyo coastal areas bracing for tropical storm

Jun 28 (NHK) - Tokyo and surrounding prefectures are bracing for Tropical Storm Sepat. Weather officials are warning of heavy rain and mudslides along their coasts.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said that as of 3 a.m. Friday, Sepat was south of the central prefecture of Shizuoka.

It said the storm is moving east-northeast at 50 kilometers per hour, with winds of 72 kilometers per hour.

Rain and wind have been intensifying in central and part of eastern Japan. Fifty-one and a half millimeters of rain fell in Irozaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, in a one-hour period. Wind gusts of roughly 90 kilometers per hour lashed Miyake, one of the Izu islands.

A front of warm, damp air has created unstable atmospheric conditions across eastern and northern Japan. The city of Hakusan, in Ishikawa Prefecture, got 30 millimeters of rain between 3 and 4 a.m.

Coastal areas in and around Tokyo could see more than 50 millimeters of rain per hour in the next few hours.

The weather agency is warning residents to watch out for landslides, flooding in low-lying areas, and swollen rivers, as well as strong winds, high waves and lightning.

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