Pedestrians make their way through a street in Tokyo while a powerful typhoon approaches Tokyo, on Oct. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)TOKYO – A powerful typhoon that washed three American airmen in Okinawa out to sea, killing at least one, slammed central Japan on Monday, stalling trains and flights and triggering mudslides, before swerving to the Pacific Ocean.
Elsewhere in the Pacific, a separate typhoon whipped the Mariana Islands, including Guam, with high winds and heavy rain.
In Japan, bullet train service was suspended between Tokyo and Osaka because of the heavy rainfall, and more than 600 flights were canceled at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. The trains resumed service later in the day, although with delays.
Typhoon Phanfone came ashore near the city of Hamamatsu shortly after 8 a.m., and traveled northward before turning eastward into the Pacific north of Tokyo.
Authorities advised more than 2 million people to evacuate, according to Kyodo News service.