2004 has been one of the most active typhoon seasons inhistory, and now Japan, which has been struck time and againthroughout the season, has been hit by its worst typhoon ina decade.
According to a Japanese Meteorological Agency official,Typhoon Tokage was unusual in its intensity and size. Therare typhoon had a radius of over 300 miles, which resultedin considerable widespread damage across almost all ofJapan. During the worst of the storm, thousands were forcedto evacuate their homes, heading to schools and publicshelters for safety. Windspeeds within the storm exceeded90 miles per hour (144 kph). At least 40,000 homes lost power.
55 people are known to have been killed by Typhoon Tokage,with 33 still missing from flooding and landslides. Thedeath toll was the highest since Typhoon Mireille of 1991.
The storm moved out into the Pacific on Thursday and hasbeen downgraded to a tropical depression. Tokage was arecord 10th typhoon to hit Japan this year.
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