The largest typhoon
in the recorded history
of Japan's Shizuoka
Prefecture caused
widespread flooding,
power outages and
destruction on Saturday,
as local authorities
warned millions of
people to evacuate.
( printed figures ranged from 1 to 7 million )
The sky turned
a brilliant purple
right before Hagibis hit.
Typhoon (hurricane)
Hagibis was downgraded
to "strong" just prior
to landfall, but
"as of 8 p.m.,
it was still packing
sustained winds
of 144 kph and
gusts of 198 kph."
"If we leave this
situation unattended,
the dam would collapse
and more than 60 million
tons of water would be
unleashed at once,"
said Kanagawa Gov.
Yuji Kuroiwa while
announcing that the
Shiroyama Dam
in Sagamihara
was scheduled
to release water
at 10 p.m.
