Typhoon Soulik hit Sakishima Islands hard

Although typhoon Soulik neatly skirted Okinawa main island, Miyako, Yaeyama and Yonaguni islands experienced a direct hit, and suffered considerable damage over last weekend.

Soulik had maximum winds of 60 m/s recorded on Yonaguni island at 1:37 a.m., on July 13.

The typhoon damaged mainly sugar cane and mango farms on Ishigaki and Miyako islands. According to Okinawa Prefecture agriculture officials, damages to crops on Ishigaki island are estimated to reach ¥280,000,000, while Miyako counts ¥200,000,000. On Miyako, five people suffered minor injuries, while on Ishigaki one person was seriously injured and five sustained light injuries.

Of the total damages of ¥480,000,000 for both Miyako and Ishigaki islands, damage to sugar cane accounts for ¥307,000,000, to mangoes ¥130,000,000, vegetables mainly okra and water melons ¥36,000,000 and flowers ¥19,000,000.

According to Okinawa Electric Power Co., within the whole Sakishima archipelago a total of 16,100 houses had power outage, and according to NTT West Japan, 25 telephone poles fell down. 358 regular ferry and boat runs were cancelled because of high waves, and 25 flights between the islands were cancelled on July 13.

08:20 04 Dec , 2024