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16 Dead, Missing as Typhoon Clears Japan

But Fukushima nuclear plant sustains little damage

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 22, 2011 5:47 AM CDT

(Newser) – Typhoon Roke cleared out of Japan today, leaving 16 people dead or missing—and the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant intact. The storm, Japan’s second major typhoon in one month, dumped as much as 17 inches of rain, causing landslides and flooding. Winds snapped power lines, leaving more than 200,000 households without electricity.

The already-damaged Fukushima plant, however, weathered the storm without experiencing the major problems that had been feared, the AP reports. A spokesperson says several cameras were damaged, but no more radioactive water or material was leaked. Most of the dead and missing were swept away by swollen rivers; one died in a landslide.

Farmlands are under waters flooded from the Toyo River in central japan on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011 as powerful Typhoon Roke barreled across central Japan. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

Stranded passengers rush to ticket gates after train service was resumed on the Keio Line at Shinjuku station in Tokyo on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

The rear section of a taxi is crushed by a fallen tree in Tokyo on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011 as powerful Typhoon Roke barreled across central Japan. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

Policemen attempt to remove a tree toppled by strong wind due to Typhoon Roke at Ginza shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Pedestrians make their way through strong winds and rains from Typhoon Roke in Tokyo, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

A walks past an uprooted tree that lies on the river bed of the swollen Shonai River at Kasugai, central Japan,on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

Policemen attempt to remove a tree toppled by strong wind due to Typhoon Roke at Ginza shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Police officers in rain gear regulate vehicles moving across a flooded national route in Toyokawa, central Japan,on Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

Surging waves hit against the breakwater in Udono in a port town of Kiho, Mie Prefecture, central Japan, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Chunichi Shimbun, Daiji Yanagida)

A man drives a car on a flooded street in Kihocho, Wakayama prefecture, western Japan Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

Surging waves hit against the breakwater at a fishing port in Kiho in Mie Prefecture, central Japan, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

People wade through a flooded underpass of a railway station in Kasugai, central Japan Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

Employees of a company are rescued from their office submerged due to heavy rain in Nagoya, central Japan Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

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16 Dead, Missing as Typhoon Clears Japan

But Fukushima nuclear plant sustains little damage

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