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Typhoon 18 was born around 9 am on Sunday, September 19, not far from the island of Miyakojima in Okinawa Prefecture. Nearly a week later it had developed into a very powerful storm indeed, the force, and direction, of which was strongly reminiscent of Typhoon 19, which caused such damage eight years ago.
The present typhoon reached the Chugoku region on September 24, after leaving a trail of damage across Kyushu. It passed over the western part of the Chugoku region before heading out over the Japan Sea towards northern Honshu and Hokkaido. As usual, the typhoon played havoc with transportation facilities and caused the cancellation of air and rail services in Hiroshima Prefecture. Even the local bus services were operating with great caution.
Typhoon 18 caused serious damage to the Itsukushima shrine on the island of Miyajima. Part of the main shrine complex collapsed after the foundations shifted owing to the strong winds. In Hiroshima City, a 950-ton crane was blown over by the high winds at the Eba depot of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The crane toppled on to an office building killing three workers and injuring several others. At the height of the storm the depot was also flooded with up to a metre of water.
On the Sanyo Shinkansen, the typhoon caused a power failure which led to several trains being stranded, some in tunnels. One train, Hikari 395 travelling from Okayama to Hakata was stuck from 8 pm till 6.50 the following morning. According to JR West Japan, vegetation blowing on to the pantographs caused a short circuit. The power failure caused the train’s air-conditioning system to go off and several passengers became ill as a result. Eight passengers were taken off the train and rushed to hospital and five were admitted to hospital. The Sanyo Shinkansen was not operating normally until 11 am the following day.
The typhoon also caused much damage to local oyster farmers. Some 500 oyster rafts were damaged, causing millions of yen worth of damage. The damage was a ‘double punch’, coming after the damage caused last year by ‘red tides’ of algae.
The Shimanami Kaido Super Marathon took place on September 19. Over 1,000 runners, aged between 19 and 74 and from 44 prefectures, took part in the 100-km race, which started at 5 am in Onomichi City. The top runners began to arrive in Imabari City by about 1 pm. However, over 300 runners completed the course in under 14 hours, with the slowest runner taking exactly 13 hours and 58 minutes.
The World of Dali
What: An exhibition of paintings by the Spanish artist Salvador Dali (1904-1989), a famous representative of the artistic movement known as surrealism. Gallery talks and a lecture will also be given during the exhibition.
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be reminiscent of・・・ 〜を思わせる |
「台風18号の到来」
9月19日の日曜日午前９時ごろ、沖縄県の宮古島付近から台風18号が発生した。約１週間後には、驚くほど強い台風となった。そのすさまじさとルートは８年前に被害をもたらした台風19号を思わせた。
今回の台風は九州一帯に被害を残すと、9月24日には中国地方に到来した。中国地方の西部を通過し、日本海を抜け本州北部と北海道へと向かった。通例のごとく交通網を大混乱させ、広島県内の空の便と鉄道は運休。路線バスも警戒態勢で運行した。
台風18号は宮島の厳島神社にも深刻な被害をもたらした。神社の一部が、強風で基盤が動いたため崩壊した。広島市内の三菱重工江波工場では、約950トンのクレーンが強風によって吹き飛ばされた。クレーンは工場の事務所に倒れ、社員３人が死亡し数人の負傷者が出た。工場は、ひどい時には１メートルの浸水にも見舞われた。
ＪＲ山陽新幹線では、台風による停電で数台の列車が動けなくなり、中にはトンネルの中で立ち往生したケースもあった。岡山発博多行きのひかり395号は、午後8時から翌朝6時50分まで動けなかった。ＪＲ西日本によると、草木がパンタグラフに絡まりショートしたという。停電で列車のエアコンは止まり、数人の乗客が気分不調を訴えた。乗客の８人が列車から降ろされ病院に直行、そのうち５人は入院した。山陽新幹線は翌日午前11時ごろまで、通常運行ができなかった。
台風は、広島のカキ養殖業者にも多くの被害をもたらした。約500台のカキいかだが被害を受け、損害は数百万円にのぼっている。今回の被害は昨年の赤潮に続く「二重の痛手」となった。
「しまなみトピックス」
しまなみ海道を走るスーパーマラソンが9月19日に行われた。19歳から74歳の1000人を超えるランナーが44都道府県から集まり、100キロのレースに参加した。レースは午前５時に尾道市でスタート。トップグループの走者は、午後１時ごろには今治市に到着し始めた。300人以上が14時間以内に完走した。最終走者は13時間58分だった。
