Japan ( Tokyo ) Weather officials have confirmed that gusts observed last Friday in a city in the central Japanese prefecture of Shizuoka were caused by a tornado.
Violent gusts hit Makinohara City and elsewhere in the prefecture as Tropical Storm Peipah approached, blowing away the roofs and walls of many houses. Cleanup work is underway.
A local meteorological office said on Sunday that the gusts in Makinohara were a tornado. Prefectural officials say four people in the city were seriously injured, along with five others in Yoshida Town.
They say a total of 1,256 homes were destroyed or partially damaged, mainly in Makinohara.
Two elementary schools and a junior high school were closed in the city on Monday due in part to a power blackout.
At the Hosoe Primary School, trees about 20 meters tall were blown over.
About 25 teachers, school staff, and gardeners gathered at the school on Monday morning to clear up the fallen trees and their branches.
Teachers and other staff went out in pairs to check routes to the school. They found broken glass and low-hanging electrical wires and recorded their locations on maps.
A senior school official, Itakura Masami, said classes were canceled on Monday to protect children’s safety. He said they will work hard to clean up the damage to restore a sense of safety to the school.
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