Typhoon Wipha hits Japan

On Wednesday, October 16^th, typhoon Wipha struck Japan’s east coast.  Wipha had winds of 126km/h, with the strongest gusts at 180km/h (The Guardian, 2013).  Luckily, the typhoon did not cause much damage to the country’s capital, Tokyo, and barely touched the Fukushima disaster site.  Due to the typhoon, TEPCO “cancelled offshore work and secured machinery” (The Guardian, 2013).  TEPCO has stated that the typhoon did not cause any more problems at Fukushima, though the workers have dumped rainwater that collected near the storage tanks into the ocean after testing it for radioactivity (Wakatsuki, 2013).

The destruction of Wipha in Oshima, as workers look through the rubble for survivors (Wakatsuki, 2013).

Fukushima was left unaltered after Wednesday’s typhoon, but other parts of Japan, such as Oshima, a small island south of Tokyo, were left in ruins (Wakatsuki, 2013).  As of today, a total of 17 people have been killed and more than 50 are missing (The Guardian, 2013).  The full effects, such as the death toll and clean up costs, of Wipha are unknown.  Japan will have to find the funds for the cleanup effort of the debris caused by typhoon Wipha, while continuing to fund the endless cleanup of Fukushima.

Works Cited 

Wakatsuki, Yoto. (17 October, 2013). "Typhoon Wipha hits Tokyo area". Cnn.com.

Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/16/world/asia/japan-typhoon-deaths/

Agencies in Tokyo. (17 October,  2013). "Typhoon Wipha wreaks deadly destruction on

Japan".TheGuardian.com. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/16/typhoon-wipha-japan-izu-oshima