6 people die as typhoon slams Japan's main island
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Xinhua, September 21, 2011
Typhoon Roke landed on Japan's largest island of Honshu Wednesday afternoon, after it had already killed at least six people, authorities said.
Roke made landfall near Hamamatsu, central Japan, at around 2: 00 p.m., and was moving northeast across the nation's major island of Honshu, the meteorological agency said.
As of 3:00 p.m., Roke was moving at a speed of 45 kilometers per hour and packing winds of up to 216 kph.
Authorities warned that Roke would likely reach Tokyo at around 6:00 p.m. and Fukushima Prefecture, which was ravaged by the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear crisis, at around 9:00 p.m..
The number of casualties has reached six in Aichi, Ehime, Saga and Nagasaki prefectures, with the body of a man found in a river in Nagoya early Wednesday morning.
Heavy rain poured Tokyo the whole day Wednesday and is expected in a wide area of Japan during the 24-hour period through Thursday, with the Kanto-Koshinetsu region in eastern Japan forecast to receive 300 millimeters of rainfall and the Tokai, Hokuriku and Tohoku regions 250 mm.
Strong winds also slam Tokyo, with trees seen fallen on the street in Shibuya, Tokyo.
Over one million people were initially instructed to evacuate in central Japan's Nagoya city, according to the local Kyodo News.
More than 451 domestic flights were canceled and the Yamagata Shinkansen bullet train services between Shinjo and Fukushima stations and the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train services between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka were suspended.
Several sections of highways, including the Hokuriku Expressway, were also closed.
