Typhoon Faxai hits Tokyo: 1 killed, 40 injured, hundreds of thousands without power

At least one person has been killed and 40 others injured while hundreds of thousands have been left stranded and without power as the eastern seaboard of Japan was lashed by Typhoon Faxai.

The powerful typhoon is one of the strongest on record in the Kanto region of eastern Japan, and the strongest storm to hit the Tokyo area in several years.

A woman in her 50s has been confirmed as the first casualty of the storm after CCTV footage showed her being blown off her feet and slammed into a wall, receiving fatal injuries in the process.

Non-compulsory evacuation orders were issued to more than 390,000 people across the Kanagawa, Shizuoka, and Tokyo prefectures.

Record-breaking winds of up to 207kph were registered at Haneda airport according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. More than 130 flights were canceled Sunday evening and into the early hours of Monday morning.

Major queues were also reported at Tokyo’s Narita airport.

As the typhoon hit, the JR East rail company suspended all lines in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, which has a population of 36 million. Public transport infrastructure was brought to a standstill and train lines closed for hours for safety checks to ensure no debris remained on the tracks.

Homes across Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures experienced temporary power cuts according to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.

Transport infrastructure isn’t the only one to be hit, as Japan’s largest floating solar plant has caught fire.

Firefighters are struggling to contain the blaze at the Yamakura Dam in Chiba Prefecture on Monday afternoon as 50 panels have caught fire, though no injuries have been reported.

Authorities suspect the powerful typhoon winds caused some of the panels to stack on top of each other, generating intense heat which caused the fire to break out.