Farm damage from Typhoon Hagibis in Japan tops 100 B. Yen

October 26, 2019

Tokyo--Damage caused to Japan's agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries by a recent powerful typhoon reached 102.73 billion yen as of Friday morning, the agriculture ministry said.

The amount is based on reports from 38 of the country's 47 prefectures that were hit by Typhoon Hagibis, which struck mainly eastern and central Japan on Oct. 12-13. The 19th typhoon of the year inflicted serious damage to crops and agricultural facilities, including irrigation channels.

The total amount is expected to rise because many local governments are still unable to examine the extent of damage.

Twenty-nine prefectures, including Nagano, Fukushima and Gunma, suffered 8.56 billion yen in damage on farm crops, such as rice, apples and cucumbers, according to the ministry. Damage to farmland and agricultural facilities stood at 50.96 billion yen.

Supplies of farm crops, mainly cucumbers and eggplants, are decreasing, agriculture minister Taku Eto said at a press conference Friday.

At Tokyo's central wholesale markets on Thursday, cucumber prices stood at 449 yen per kilogram, about 80 pct higher compared with Oct. 12, when the super typhoon crossed the Kanto eastern region, including the Japanese capital. Eggplant prices were about 30 pct higher at 379 yen.

Last year's torrential rains that struck western Japan left damage of some 340 billion yen to the farm, forestry and fisheries industries.

Meanwhile, two people have newly been confirmed dead from Typhoon Hagibis, bringing the total death toll to 87 in 13 prefectures.

The body of a man in his 40s who had been missing since falling into a swollen irrigation channel on Oct. 12 was found in the sea off the city of Numazu in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, last Sunday, the city government of Gotenba, also Shizuoka, said Friday.

The government of Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, announced Friday that a 67-year-old man found dead in a ditch at a golf course in the city of Ageo in the prefecture was a victim of the typhoon. Jiji Press