Typhoon Hagibis: Japan's 'Worst Storm in 60 Years'

Advanced
Asia

Exercise 1
Vocabulary

deploy
Verb
dɪˈplɔɪ
to put soldiers or equipment in position for action; to put something
into use
The soldiers are being deployed by parachute.

toll
Noun
toʊl
the number of deaths or injuries caused by a war, disaster, etc.
The death toll from yesterday's attack has reached 76.

landfall
Noun
ˈlændfɔːl
an arrival at land after a journey by sea or air
After two months, the ship made landfall on the coast of Hawaii.

torrential
Adjective
təˈrenʃl
(of rain) falling quickly and in large amounts
Weeks of torrential rain has caused flooding across the country.

downgrade
Verb
ˈdaʊnˌgreɪd
to move someone or something down to a lower level, rank, etc.
His condition was downgraded from critical to stable last night.

evacuation
Noun
ɪˌvækjuːˈeɪʃən
the act of moving people away from a dangerous place
The government ordered a city-wide evacuation to prepare for the hurricane.
Article
Typhoon Hagibis: Japan's 'Worst Storm in 60 Years'

Helicopters, boats, and thousands of troops were deployed across Japan to rescue
people from flooded homes on Sunday, as the death toll from the worst typhoon in
six decades climbed as high as 33.

Typhoon Hagibis made landfall south of Tokyo on Saturday evening, battering central
and northern Japan with torrential rain and powerful winds. The typhoon was
downgraded to a tropical storm on Sunday.

Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency said late Sunday that 14 people had
died, 11 were missing and 187 were injured as a result of the typhoon. It said 1,283
homes were flooded and 517 were damaged.

Japanese media counts were higher. Kyodo News reported that 33 people died and
19 were missing.

Evacuation centers set up in coastal towns saw tens of thousands seeking shelter.
Kyodo News said evacuation warnings had been given to more than 6 million people.

Early Sunday, government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said that around 376,000
homes were without electricity, and that 14,000 did not have running water.

Japanese authorities warned that Hagibis — which means "speed" in Filipino — was
similar in size to a typhoon that hit the Tokyo region in 1958. The typhoon six
decades ago left more than 1,200 people dead and half a million houses flooded,
showing how advanced Japan's safety infrastructure has become.