Powerful Typhoon Roke hits Japan - Bão Nhiệt đới đổ bộ Nhật Bản

BBC's Roland Buerk: "There are concerns that rain could force radioactive water into the sea" Footage

courtesy of TV Osaka

A powerful typhoon has struck Japan, bringing torrential rains and floods that have killed five people.
Typhoon Roke is now closing in on Fukushima, where engineers are still struggling to bring a nuclear plant under control after the March tsunami.
There are concerns heavy rain could force radioactive water into the sea.
The storm, packing winds of 162km/h (100mph), passed near Tokyo stranding tens of thousands of commuters as trains and flights were cancelled.
The typhoon made landfall on Wednesday afternoon (05:00GMT) in Hamamatsu, scouring its way up the main island of Honshu.
The storm is now tracking a path towards Fukushima prefecture and is then expected to travel up along the north-east coast, which was battered by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami.
The BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo says pools of radioactive water remain at the Fukushima nuclear site, and there is concern that a heavy downpour could cause them to overflow into the sea or groundwater.
A spokesman for Tepco said the firm was taking "every possible measure against the typhoon".
"We have tied down cables and hoses while fixing equipment so that radioactive materials will not spread [in violent winds]," said Naoki Tsunoda.
He said the work on the ground and at sea had been suspended.
Caution urged
Five people have so far been found dead in central and western Japan, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Four people are missing including a nine-year-old boy and 84-year-old man who were swept away by flood waters in Gifu prefecture as the storm approached.