Japan recovers from Hagibis

Typhoon No. 19, a.k.a. Hagibis, was headed for Japan’s main island of Honshu this weekend and thus, messed up last week’s plans of going to Kyoto. Instead, I experienced hoarding for the first time: Already by Thursday evening, it was difficult to get hold of certain groceries in local supermarkets.

Japan generally being typhoon-ridden nation, this only happens when an extraordinarily massive storm is approaching. Hagibis was forecasted to be one of the worst ones in a long time, making landfall when some prefectures were still recovering from last month’s typhoon Faxai and right around full moon when the tide is especially high. Given these preconditions, it’s no wonder that on Monday afternoon, fourty people are confirmed dead and several more still missing.

About 1km from my apartment flows the Tama River, which was one of the biggest threats to nearby residents in the Tokyo area. Below are a couple of before and after pictures taken by live cameras along the river. First one shows the area next to my office, with the nearby meadows completely under water. Second one gives you an idea just how much the river rose in just a few hours. (Pictures by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism)